A sociology textbook for nurses recently garnered flak on Twitter as an extract from the book listed down the "merits of dowry". Right from talking about how dowry helped a woman get a share in the family property to how ugly girls could be married off with the help of a handsome dowry, there were a lot of things the book got wrong.
It might have disappointed, but it definitely didn't surprise. This isn't the first time an Indian textbook has said something offensive, or illegal. Here are some other examples of times when textbooks approved by educational boards have imparted the most nonsensical information in the name of education.
1. Women Are the Cause of Unemployment
Women are obviously the reason for most of our problems, so why not add unemployment to the list too? A class 10 social science textbook in Chhattisgarh claimed that women were the cause of rising unemployment as their participation had increased in all sectors after independence. This left lesser available jobs for men.
The extract was opposed by Soumya Garg, a school teacher in 2015, who petitioned the women's commission to take action against the Chhattisgarh Board of Secondary Education.
2. 36-24-36 Is the Perfect Female Body
A CBSE book titled Health and Physcial Education Textbook by Dr VK Sharma spoke about how there were exact measurements to the perfect female body, and they were 36", 24", 36". It also referred to the structure of Miss Universe and other pagaent contestants and how their bodies were "perfect" examples of this.
An extract from 'Health and Physical Education Textbook' by Dr VK Sharma.
(Photo Courtesy: Homegrown)
3. Non-vegetarians Lie, Cheat, Commit Sex Crimes
A 2012 report by NDTV uncovered how a class 6 CBSE textbook spoke about non-vegetarians and claimed that they "easily cheat, tell lies, forget promises, are dishonest and tell bad words, steal, fight and turn to violence and commit sex crimes."
4. Class 4 Experiment Instructing Students to Kill Kittens
“Take two wooden boxes. Make holes on lid of one box. Put a small kitten in each box. Close the boxes. After some time open the boxes. What do you see? The kitten inside the box without the holes has died," stated an excerpt from ‘Our Green World: Environment Studies’ published by PP Publications.
Even though the book was removed from circulation, the fact that it was published at all is shocking. Kittens, really? What have they ever done to anyone?
Class 4 textbook asks to kill kitten as part of an experiment.
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)
5. A Donkey Is Better Than a Housewife
Indians already have a very strong opinions on homemakers. They run our households in ways we never could, but we are still too quick to judge them.
In a Rajasthan State Board textbook written by Padma Shri awardee Gopalprasad Vyas, he makes a crass comparison between a donkey and a homemaker and writes, "A donkey is like a housewife. It has to toil all day and, like her, may even have to give up food and water. In fact, the donkey is a shade better, for while the housewife may sometimes complain and walk off to her parents' home, you'll never catch the donkey being disloyal to his master."
6. Rape-Convict Asaram Bapu Dubbed “Saint”
Asaram Bapu.
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)
A Class 3 textbook published by Gurukul Education Books distributed in Jodhpur called convicted rapist Asaram Bapu a saint in one of its chapters. Asaram's name appeared alongside people such as Swami Vivekananda, Mother Teresa, and Guru Nanak, among others.
Interestingly, even Baba Ramdev made it to this list.
7. Japan Launching a Nuclear Attack on USA During World War II
There's fake news, and then there's this extract from a textbook in Gujarat that claimed that it was Japan who used nuclear bombs to attack USA during the second world war, when in fact, it was the other way around. The book was used to teach as much as 50,000 impressionable children before it was recalled.
8. “Effective” Ways to Conceive a Boy Child
A third-year Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine, and Surgery (BAMS) textbook claimed that there was a fool-proof way of conceiving a boy child. One of the methods read, "Collect two north facing branches of a Banyan tree (east facing will also suffice) that has grown in a stable, take precisely two grains of urad dal mustard seeds, grind all the ingredients with curd, and consume the mixture."
Ganesh Borhade, a member of the district supervisory board of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act had raised concerns against this. “Doctors with BAMS degrees have a thriving practice not just in rural areas, but also in cities such as Mumbai, Pune, and Nashik. Many people shun allopathy in favour of Ayurveda, and if this is what medical students are being taught, God help this society," he told Mumbai Mirror.
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