CBSE issues clarification on viral post of Class 9 chapter about ‘Dating & Relationships’

NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Secondary Education on Friday issued a clarification on a viral post of CBSE Class 9 chapter on dating and relationship. The textbook images circulated widely on social media platforms, receiving reactions from various users. Dismissing the the claims made on X (formerly Twitter), the CBSE clarified that it does not publish books.It highlighted that a certain portion of the media is wrongly attributing a book to be a publication of CBSE.
The Board further said it neither publishes any books nor recommends books of any private publishers calling it “totally baseless and incorrect.”
Following this, CBSE posted a clarification on its X handle that reads, ” 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. The contents of the chapter which are going viral on Social Media are in fact 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. The CBSE neither publishes any books nor recommends books of any private publishers.”

In a recent X post, a user shared images featuring a chapter titled ‘Dating and Relationships,’ with the caption “9th class textbooks nowadays.” This sparked a buzz among microblogging site users, and many speculated it to be from a CBSE Class 9 textbook.
Numerous reports commended and described it as a progressive initiative by the board, while others seemed in a doubtful state if it was real. One such user on X wrote, “Is this for real?” Responding to the images from the Class 9 book, Tinder India wrote, “next chapter: how to deal with breakups” carrying a crying smiley.
The book also contained chapters and topics such as cyberbullying, catfishing and ghosting. The book has also addressed subjects like ‘special’ friendships and crushes, explaining these terms with simple examples.