CBSE 'sexist' passage row: Who sets exam papers & how?

Amid the difficulties posed by the ongoing pandemic, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) fell prey to controversies yet again.

A row erupted over a ‘sexist’ passage in CBSE’s Class 10 board paper and the board was accused of reinforcing gender stereotypes. The board said the passage was not in adherence with the guidelines issued by it and expressed regret over the incident.

Earlier this month, the CBSE came into the limelight after a controversy over a Class 12 Sociology exam where students were asked: The unprecedented scale and spread of anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002 took place under which government?

Also Read | CBSE committee to review question paper process after 'misogynistic' passage surfaces in class 10 exam

Soon after that, the board took responsibility for it said it “acknowledges the error made and will take strict action against the responsible persons.”

Here’s a look at the process and guidelines that CBSE follows to set its board question papers:

Who sets the CBSE papers?

Two separate panels of subject experts are involved in setting up the paper for each subject, which is paper-setters and moderators. However, the identification of the experts is kept confidential.

To qualify to be a paper-setter or moderator, one must hold a postgraduate degree in the subject as well as have at least 10 years of teaching experience in the same subject at secondary/senior secondary/higher education level. Alternatively, one should be working at state- or national-level education agencies of the government and part of the organisation of in-service training programmes or research/development of study materials for secondary/senior secondary students/teachers.

Also Read | Gender stereotyping row: AIADMK slams CBSE

What is the process of setting the CBSE question paper?

For each subject, multiple sets of question papers are created which are then moved to the moderation phase done by either a team of moderators or an individual.

The CBSE has instructed the paper setters and Moderators to “ensure that all sets of question papers are comparable, as far as possible, with regard to the concepts tested, the cognitive operation required, the scope of the answer, difficulty level, time limit and conformity with the syllabus”.

Another point that the CBSE stresses on is that “each question paper has been set according to the syllabus of the subject, blueprint, design and textbooks/recommended book,” to avoid the issue of getting ‘out of syllabus' topics.

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