'Baseless and incorrect': CBSE clarifies after chapter on ‘Dating and Relationship’ goes viral

India’s Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has issued a clarification after an image of a textbook wrongly attributed to the board showing a chapter on “Dating and Relationship” went viral on social media.

In a statement released on social media website X, the CBSE termed the news “baseless and incorrect.”

“A section of media is wrongly attributing a book to be a publication of CBSE containing objectionable material on dating and relationships according to the reports. This is totally baseless and incorrect,” CBSE said in its post.

The board further stated that the contents going viral on social media are from a book titled ‘A Guide to Self Awareness and Empowerment’ written by Gagan Deep Kaur and Published by G.Ram Books(P) Ltd. Educational Publishers.

Watch:Scientists create 'identical twin' universe

“The CBSE neither publishes any books nor recommends books of any private publishers,” the board further added.

Earlier, a social media post went viralattributing a chapter titled ‘Dating and Relationships: Understanding Yourself and the Other Person,’ to a CBSE class 9 book.

The original post nowhere mentioned whether the book was a publication of CBSE; however, several users and even media reports started labelling it as one.

The post received mixed reactions on social media, with some users lauding the board for the ‘good move’, while others calling it ‘objectionable.’

The chapter dealt with relationship terms such as ghosting, catfishing, and cyberbullying. The post went so viral that even the dating app Tinder waded into the controversy. While replying to a post, Tinder India wrote “next chapter : how to deal with breakups.”

“I don’t think this is NCERT, please clarify the publication,” wrote another user. Calling it a good move, a user wrote, “CBSE Class 9 textbooks to have chapters on dating and relationships. Good move. These days, most kids around that age do end up dating. Smartness lies in educating them about this & safe intercourse instead of being in denial about this.”

(With inputs from agencies)