Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Troubling question: On CBSE’s misogyny

Troubling question: On CBSE’s misogyny

Instead of casting off stereotypes, school authorities are reiterating (दोहराना, फिर से कहना) old wrongs

The road (सड़क, मार्ग, दिशा) to gender (लिंग, जाति, विशेष कर लिंग भेद से) equity (समानता, निष्पक्षता, साम्य, तटस्थता) is long and hard, and despite the fact that each generation has paved a better way for the next, the struggle to overcome (क़ाबू पाना, बेहतर करना, जीतना) disparities (असमानता, विषमता, अन्तर) is far from (not, not at all, nowhere near) over. Through this difficult journey, the school’s role in sensitising (संवेदनशील बनाना) young minds towards building a non-discriminatory (भेदभाव रहित, निष्पक्ष, न्यायिक) world cannot be overstated (अत्युक्ति कर, अधिक जोर देना). In this context (संदर्भ, संबंध, परिस्थितियाँ), a comprehension (समझ, अवधारणा, समझना) passage (मार्ग) in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) (Formed in 1962, it is a national level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Union Government of India. It envisions a robust, vibrant, and holistic school education that will engender (cause) excellence in every sphere of human endeavour) English examination conducted on Saturday for Class 10 students must be condemned (censure, criticize, denounce, reprimand, rebuke, reprove) for its regressive (retrograde, retrogressive, unprogressive/negative) and sexist stance (position, approach, standpoint). The passage, which created a furore across all sections of society and in Parliament where Congress president Sonia Gandhi called out (criticize someone for something (bad/incorrect) publicly and ask them to justify/explain it) the misogyny, contained outrageous sentences, including one which said “women gaining independence is the main reason for a wide variety of social and family problems”. Young impressionable ((especially of a young person) easily impressed and influenced by others; susceptible, receptive, persuadable, malleable) teenagers, girls and boys, already stressed because of the pandemic (the worldwide spread of a new disease; The illness spreads around the world and typically affects a large number of people across a wide area), did not know how to tackle the question. Another sentence shockingly read “that the emancipation (liberation, freedom, freeing) of the wife destroyed the parent’s authority (control, command, hold, grip) over the children... In bringing the man down from his pedestal (platform) the wife and mother deprived (dispossess, strip of, deny, prevent from having) herself, in fact, of the means (ways, methods) of discipline”. The multiple answers to one question that followed the passage asking children to comment on the tone (mode of expression; quality, style, attitude) had this choice: “Writer takes a light-hearted (playful, jolly, jovial) approach to life”. The initial response from the CBSE was tone-deaf, although the Board later said it was dropping (exclude, discard, throw out, get rid of) the question.

It was eventually forced to express “regret (apology)” and it vowed to review its paper setting processes. Already because of COVID-19, the 2020-21 syllabi (syllabuses (plural of syllabus)) for Classes 9-12 were truncated by 30% with glaring (obvious, visible, apparent, flagrant, blatant) omissions (negligence, neglect, dereliction, oversight, disregard) of core concepts in subjects such as Mathematics. From the social sciences and other humanities subjects, topics such as federalism, citizenship, nationalism (it refers to a system (with a narrow set of ideas) created by a group of people who believe their nation is superior to all others. It is also a perception of national superiority and an orientation toward national dominance-called chauvinism (excessive nationalism)), secularism, democracy, and diversity (the range of human differences, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, social class, physical ability or attributes, religious or ethical values system, national origin, and political beliefs), were slashed. In the real world it will be tougher for children if they are not taught the basics in school, and if they grow up (grow, mature, develop) with anxieties (worry, apprehension, uneasiness, nervousness, tension, disquiet) related to gender, for instance (as an example). In India, misogyny has long roots (origins, beginnings; basic cause of something). Inequalities (Inequality is simply defined as “the state of not being equal, especially in status, rights and opportunities; imbalance, unevenness, disproportion, disparity) of class, caste, gender already exist in the school system, worse in the villages and among the urban poor. Many girls are pushed to drop out for myriad (various, many and various, manifold, multiple) reasons, from the lack of (absence, unavailability) toilet facilities in school to forced labour or marriage. If men, as Claudia Goldin says in her book, Career & Family, must start doing what women have always done, provide personal support, lend a ear, and help, education has to begin when they are young. Instead of teaching them to cast off (छोड़ना, त्यागना, फेंक देना) stereotypes, school authorities are reiterating old wrongs. At a time when it is imperative (vitally important, crucial, critical, essential, necessary) for the Board to lighten (lessen, reduce, diminish, moderate, soften) children’s burden, the CBSE has sent out the worst possible message.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.troubling (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - चिंताजनक, परेशान करने वाला, हैरान करने वाला
English Meaning - annoying, disconcerting, distressing, disturbing, perplexing, unsettling.

2.cast off (phrasal verb)

Hindi Meaning - छोड़ना, त्यागना, फेंक देना
English Meaning - discard, abandon, jettison, throw away, exclude.

3.reiterate (verb)

Hindi Meaning - दोहराना, फिर से कहना
English Meaning - repeat, say again, restate.

4.road (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सड़क, मार्ग, दिशा
English Meaning - way, path, route, direction, course.

5.gender (noun)

Hindi Meaning - लिंग, जाति, विशेष कर लिंग भेद से
English Meaning - Gender is used to describe the characteristics of women and men that are socially constructed, while sex refers to those that are biologically determined.

6.equity (noun)

Hindi Meaning - समानता, निष्पक्षता, साम्य, तटस्थता
English Meaning - fairness, justness, neutrality, lack of bias, impartiality.

7.pave the way for (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - के लिए मार्ग प्रशस्त करना, के लिए रास्ता साफ करना
English Meaning - clear the way for, make preparations for, put things in order for.

8.overcome (verb)

Hindi Meaning - क़ाबू पाना, बेहतर करना, जीतना
English Meaning - get the better of, prevail over, deal with, solve, triumph over.

9.disparity (noun)

Hindi Meaning - असमानता, विषमता, अन्तर
English Meaning - imbalance, inequality, unevenness, disproportion.

10.sensitise (verb)

Hindi Meaning - संवेदनशील बनाना
English Meaning - quick to respond to, make sensitive to, make responsive/reactive to.

11.non-discriminatory (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - भेदभाव रहित, निष्पक्ष, न्यायिक
English Meaning - fair, judicial, unbiased.

12.overstate (verb)

Hindi Meaning - अत्युक्ति कर, अधिक जोर देना
English Meaning - exaggerate, overdo, overemphasize.

13.context (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संदर्भ, संबंध, परिस्थितियाँ
English Meaning - circumstances, conditions, situation.

14.comprehension (noun)

Hindi Meaning - समझ, अवधारणा, समझना
English Meaning - understanding, ability to understand, grasp (what you read/listen).

15.passage (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मार्ग
English Meaning - extract, excerpt, section, piece, selection, part, snippet, portion (of writing).

16.The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) (noun)

English Meaning - Formed in 1962, it is a national level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Union Government of India. It envisions a robust, vibrant, and holistic school education that will engender (cause) excellence in every sphere of human endeavour.

17.misogyny (noun)

English Meaning - prejudice, dislike, hatred (of women).

18.stereotype (noun)

English Meaning - an oversimplified and/or unfair belief or idea that groups of people have particular characteristics or that all people in a group are the same.

19.gender equality/parity/equity (noun)

English Meaning - It is the view that everyone should receive equal treatment and not be discriminated against based on their gender (sex).

20.far from (phrase)

English Meaning - not, not at all, nowhere near.

21.condemn (verb)

English Meaning - censure, criticize, denounce, reprimand, rebuke, reprove.

22.regressive (adjective)

English Meaning - retrograde, retrogressive, unprogressive/negative.

23.stance (noun)

English Meaning - position, approach, standpoint.

24.furore (noun)

English Meaning - commotion, outcry uproar, agitation.

25.call out (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - criticize someone for something (bad/incorrect) publicly and ask them to justify/explain it.

26.outrageous (adjective)

English Meaning - shocking, disgraceful, appalling, abhorrent, heinous, horrible, shameful.

27.impressionable (adjective)

English Meaning - (especially of a young person) easily impressed and influenced by others; susceptible, receptive, persuadable, malleable.

28.stress (verb)

English Meaning - pressure, burden, make tense, overtax.

29.pandemic (noun)

English Meaning - the worldwide spread of a new disease; The illness spreads around the world and typically affects a large number of people across a wide area.

30.emancipation (noun)

English Meaning - liberation, freedom, freeing.

31.authority (noun)

English Meaning - control, command, hold, grip.

32.bring down (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - decrease, reduce, lower.

33.pedestal (noun)

English Meaning - platform.

34.deprive (verb)

English Meaning - dispossess, strip of, deny, prevent from having.

35.in fact (phrase)

English Meaning - actually, really, in reality.

36.means (noun)

English Meaning - ways, methods.

37.tone (noun)

English Meaning - mode of expression; quality, style, attitude.

38.light-hearted (adjective)

English Meaning - playful, jolly, jovial.

39.tone-deaf (adjective)

English Meaning - insensitive to the concerns or difficulties of others; unable to understand matters concerning others’ sentiment/opinion; having a lack of perception, having a lack of understanding.

40.drop (verb)

English Meaning - exclude, discard, throw out, get rid of.

41.eventually (adverb)

English Meaning - in the end, finally, at last.

42.regret (noun)

English Meaning - apology.

43.vow (verb)

English Meaning - swear, pledge, promise, affirm.

44.syllabi (noun)

English Meaning - syllabuses (plural of syllabus).

45.truncated (adjective)

English Meaning - reduced, decreased, diminished; shortened, trimmed, curtailed.

46.glaring (adjective)

English Meaning - obvious, visible, apparent, flagrant, blatant.

47.omission (noun)

English Meaning - negligence, neglect, dereliction, oversight, disregard.

48.humanities (noun)

English Meaning - academic subjects that study aspects of human society and culture; arts, literature.

49.federalism/federal framework/system (noun)

English Meaning - a system of government in which establishments such as states or provinces share power with a national government.

50.nationalism (noun)

English Meaning - it refers to a system (with a narrow set of ideas) created by a group of people who believe their nation is superior to all others. It is also a perception of national superiority and an orientation toward national dominance-called chauvinism (excessive nationalism).

51.secularism (noun)

English Meaning - the belief that religion should not have a strong influence in education or other public parts of society.

52.diversity (noun)

English Meaning - the range of human differences, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, social class, physical ability or attributes, religious or ethical values system, national origin, and political beliefs.

53.slash (verb)

English Meaning - reduce, lower, bring down.

54.grow up (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - grow, mature, develop.

55.anxiety (noun)

English Meaning - worry, apprehension, uneasiness, nervousness, tension, disquiet.

56.for instance (phrase)

English Meaning - as an example.

57.root (noun)

English Meaning - origins, beginnings; basic cause of something.

58.inequality (noun)

English Meaning - Inequality is simply defined as “the state of not being equal, especially in status, rights and opportunities; imbalance, unevenness, disproportion, disparity.

59.drop out (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - discontinue, end, stop, cease.

60.myriad (adjective)

English Meaning - various, many and various, manifold, multiple.

61.lack of (noun)

English Meaning - absence, unavailability.

62.lend one’s ear (phrase)

English Meaning - pay attention, take notice, listen.

63.imperative (adjective)

English Meaning - vitally important, crucial, critical, essential, necessary.

64.lighten (verb)

English Meaning - lessen, reduce, diminish, moderate, soften.