By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi, Dec 13, 2021: Women in India on December 13 decried a “blatantly misogynistic” and regressive” question a national school board asked its tenth grade students.
“The education ministry must seriously do an enquiry, and the one made the question/statement should be punished severely,” says Sister Joel Urumpil, a social worker in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, reacting to the news about the question set by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
The question that appeared in the reading comprehension section held December 10 contained sentences like “women gaining independence is the main reason for a wide variety of social and family problems.”
Sister Urumpil, a member of the Sisters of Charity Nazareth, wants a nationwide outrage by progressive men, women’s groups, students, Members Parliament of both houses, educational institutions. “Media should be urged to expose the rotten mindset and cry foul,” she told Matters India.
The issue drew national attention December 13 when Congress party’s interim president Sonia Gandhi raised the “blatantly misogynistic” and “shockingly regressive passage” in the parliament. Addressing the Lok Sabha, she urged the education ministry to not just apologize but conduct a thorough enquiry into how such a question, which “reflected poorly” on standards of education and testing found its way into the question paper.
She urged the ministry of education and the CBSE to immediately withdraw the question, issue an apology and conduct a thorough review into this egregious lapse to ensure it is never repeated again.
Gandhi also wants the ministry to conduct a review on gender sensitivity standards of the curriculum and testing.
The CBSE issued a statement saying they were dropping the controversial passage and that all students would be awarded full marks for the said passage.
Anita Cheria, a writer-activist, says she shudders to think of the people setting the papers of board exams as teachers.
Jessica Prakash Richard, national coordinator, Engage Disability, and a member of the Chennai unit of the Indian Christian Women Movement, wants people who framed the question to be reprimanded and sensitized about gender equality. She also calls for “an overall sensitization of the CBSE system that has allowed such a lapse to happen.”
Pooja Tripathi, a netizen, too demanded that the CBSE immediately withdraw the question and issue an apology and conduct a thorough review that this is never ever repeated.