Sonia Gandhi slams ‘blatantly misogynist’ question in CBSE Class 10 exam, demands apology from govt

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Sonia Gandhi demanded immediate withdrawal of the objectionable question and a review into the “gravest lapse”.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday condemned the inclusion of a “blatantly misogynist” passage in a CBSE Class 10 question paper and demanded an apology from the Modi government. Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Gandhi demanded immediate withdrawal of the objectionable question and a review into the “gravest lapse”.

Noting that the entire passage is riddled with “such condemnable ideas and the questions that follow are equally non-sensical”, Sonia said, “I add my voice to the concerns of students, parents, teachers and educationists and I raise strong objection to such blatantly misogynistic material finding its way into an important examination conducted by the CBSE.”

“I urge the Education Ministry and CBSE to immediately withdraw this question, issue an apology and conduct a thorough review into this egregious lapse to ensure this is never repeated again. I also urge the ministry to conduct a review of gender sensitivity standards of the curriculum.”

In the Class 10 exam conducted on Saturday, the English question paper carried a comprehension passage with sentences like “emancipation of women destroyed the parent’s 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.

Various excerpts from the passage have gone viral on social media with users calling out the board for supporting “misogynistic” and “regressive opinions” and hashtag “CBSE insults women” trending on the microblogging site Twitter.

Seeking clarification on the issue raised by Gandhi, members of the Congress, DMK, IUML, NCP and National Conference walked out of the House.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also hit out at the CBSE over the passage in the class 10 English paper, terming it as “disgusting” and a “ploy” of the RSS-BJP to crush the morale and future of the youth.

“Most CBSE papers so far were too difficult and the comprehension passage in the English paper was downright disgusting. Typical RSS-BJP ploys to crush the morale and future of the youth”. “Kids, do your best. Hard work pays. Bigotry doesn’t,” Gandhi said.

On Sunday, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had called out the CBSE and the government over the issue. “Unbelievable! Are we really teaching children this drivel? Clearly, the BJP Government endorses these retrograde views on women, why else would they feature in the CBSE curriculum?” she tweeted.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) issued a statement saying,” The passage in one set of the English paper of CBSE class 10 first term examination held yesterday has received mixed reactions from a few parents and students stating that ‘it seems to support regressive notions on family and allegedly promotes gender stereotyping’”.

“The matter will be referred to subject experts for considered views as per the pre set procedures of the board. As regards the correct answer option and the answer key released by the board, it is clarified that if the experts opine that the passage elicits multiple interpretations, appropriate action will be taken to protect the interest of the students,” the board said.