Privately published textbook draws parents’ ire in Bengaluru

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has urged schools to scrutinise books from private publishers that have been incorporated in the curriculum, and ensure that they do not have objectionable matter.

This comes against the backdrop of parents taking to social media to complain about a chapter, The Modern Girl, in one such privately published textbook that had been prescribed by some schools in Bengaluru.

‘Self-centred creature’

The chapter in the book, ‘Current School Essays and Letters’ by Purabi Chakraborty, described the modern girl as a “self-centred creature than a loving daughter or sympathetic sister.”

Such a girl “loves to wear jeans, pants and hot pants. The colourful saree has no place in the modern girl’s stock of garments.”

It goes on to read: “She is eager to enjoy life fully and so she does not want to miss any party, cinema show, concert, fashion parades and such outdoor activities. She talks and makes friendship with boys freely and easily.”

Health conscious

The author writes that the modern girl is conscious about is her health and figure because of which she has no time to look after her family members.

According to the publisher, the book is intended for students of the CBSE, ICSE (Indian School Certificate Examination), Secondary and Higher Secondary Boards. The Principal of a Bengaluru-based CBSE school expressed her shock at such material being taught to students. “What message are we sending to our students? It promotes stereotype and biases. Schools using this should immediately withdraw the books,” she said.

‘Exercise caution’

In a press release, the CBSE cited affiliation bye-laws, which clearly state that schools should follow the syllabus on the curriculum prescribed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)/ CBSE, and use textbooks published by them as far as practically possible. If a school chooses a privately published textbook, it should exercise extreme caution.

Objectionable content

“The content must be scrutinised to preclude any objectionable content that hurts the feelings of any class, community, gender, religious group in society. If prescribing books having such content, the school will have to take responsibility of such content,” the press release by the CBSE stated.

It added that the bye-laws further mandate that the school will put a list of such books prescribed by it on its website, with a “written declaration duly signed by the manager and the principal to the effect that they had gone through the contents of the books prescribed by the school and own the responsibility [for them].”