DCW Issues Notice To CBSE For “Regressive” Passage In Class 10 Exam

A notice was issued by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) regarding a controversial comprehensive passage in Class 10 English examination.

The notice from the DCW on Monday sought a detailed action taken report on the passage which allegedly promoted "gender stereotyping" and supported "regressive notions".

Notably, the passage had sentences like "emancipation of women destroyed the parents' authority over the children" and "it was only by accepting her husband's way that a mother could gain obedience over the younger ones", among others.

In its notice, the DCW sought the names and designations of the people responsible for writing the passage and putting it on the question paper and whether any action was taken against him.

The notice also asked whether any material published by the CBSE underwent the scrutiny of experts to ensure that the same was gender-inclusive and did not propagate gender stereotypes.

It read, "Was this passage scrutinized by any such expert(s)? If yes, please provide complete details of the same along with the action taken against them for this lapse".

The notice further stated, "The said article is infuriating for its totally sexist and warped in its approach. Not only is the article offensive towards women, but it is also very offensive towards children", adding, "evident that the writer is a woman-hater, to say the least, and his understanding of women issues and feminism is totally perverted".

Calling it unacceptable that the CBSE published such a passage in its examination, the DCW further asked the board to enlist the steps taken by CBSE to prevent the publication of such articles in the future.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday called the questions "blatantly misogynist" and "nonsensical", saying that it reflected "extremely poorly" on the standards of the education and testing body.

Meanwhile, following an outrage, the CBSE on Monday decided to drop the passage and the questions and award full marks to the students.

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