CBSE drops controversial questions in class 10 English exam amid outrage, to award full marks

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New Delhi: Amid outrage over gender stereotyping, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday (December 13, 2021) decided to drop questions based on comprehension passage in the class 10 English exam.

The board issued a circular and informed it will award full marks to students.

"A passage in one set of the English language and Literature paper of CBSE Class X first term examination held on December 11, 2021, is not in accordance with the guidelines of the board with regard to the setting of question papers," the CBSE said. 

"...On the basis of feedback received from stakeholders, the matter was referred to a committee of subject experts. As per their recommendation, it has been decided to drop passage no. 1 and its accompanying questions of the question paper series JSK/1," the CBSE added.

"Full marks will be awarded for this passage to all the students concerned. To ensure uniformity and parity, full marks will be awarded to students for passage no 1 for all sets of the question paper Class X English Language and Literature,” the board stated.

As the passage in one set of question paper in class X English Exam is not in accordance with guidelines of the board with regard to setting of question papers, it has been decided to drop the question and award full marks to the students for this passage . pic.twitter.com/IHfoUJSy2O — CBSE HQ (@cbseindia29) December 13, 2021

This is to be noted that the question paper had 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 had 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.

Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had also objected to the question paper.

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. — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 13, 2021

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? @cbseindia29 @narendramodi?? pic.twitter.com/5NZyPUzWxz — Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) December 13, 2021

Earlier this month, the CBSE class 12 sociology paper had asked students to name the party under which the "anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002" took place, a question the board later said was "inappropriate" and against its guidelines.