The DAV group of schools has responded to the row over a controversial question in their exam paper which referred to farmers who protested in New Delhi on Republic Day as ‘violent maniacs’. The politically charged question appeared in a revision exam paper set for class 10 students of DAV Boys, Gopalapuram in Chennai.
“We have received feedback from various stakeholders - parents, alumni, teachers and the general public. Ours being a diverse country, it has not been surprising that the feedback also has been quite diverse - from expletive laden hate messages to solemn support for the institution…” the response, posted on DAV group’s website read.
The group’s response stated that the “specifically highlighted wordings of the question (violent maniacs) which was framed by a teacher, do not reflect the views of the institution.” However, the school said it “does take pride in constantly striving towards making education relevant, contemporary and contextual.”
The response also added that the schools “believes in the need to nurture independent thinking amongst children and also abide...by the Indian constitution.”.
The response came a day after a group of former students sent a letter to the school and the Arya Samaj Educational Trust, which runs the schools, over the specific question. Several social media users pointed out that the 10 mark exercise was worded in a way to further a narrative that vilified farmers who protested on the Republic Day Tractor Rally in Delhi.
This is a sample fm a Class X English paper of a popular Chennai school. The incident and the much larger farm bills issue is still being discussed but here this is being said 'violent maniacs under external instigation' pic.twitter.com/N27ooheHJV
— T M Krishna (@tmkrishna) February 19, 2021