Row over regressive question in CBSE English paper
The Hindu
Passage blames ‘feminist revolt’ for teenage indiscipline
When Anita (name changed) read the English question paper of her Class 10 Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examination on Friday, she was shocked by the contents of the passage selected for a reading comprehension exercise.
“What people were slow to observe was that the emancipation of the wife destroyed the parents authority over the children… In bringing the man down from his pedestal the wife and mother deprived herself, in fact, of the means of discipline,” read the conclusion of the passage, which appeared to blame indiscipline among teenagers on a “feminist revolt”. In contrast, it described a past era when a husband was “master in his own house”, his wife “gave him formal obedience” and “children and servants were in this way taught to know their place”.
“I cannot believe such a regressive and inappropriate passage was given to us. It’s very disappointing that the CBSE board could do this in a national-level examination in 2021,” said Anita, a student of a wellknown Chennai school.