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Why did rich women in 19th-century India hesitate to send their daughters to schools but allow them to read at home?
AReading at home was free of cost
BPublic schools were seen as a threat to female chastity and family honour
CBooks were rare and only home tutors had them (typical)
DThe British prohibited girls' schools
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Public schools were seen as a threat to female chastity and family honour
1. NCERT discusses gender norms around female literacy.
2. Many conservative Hindus believed that a literate girl would be widowed; Muslims feared reading would corrupt women.
3. Sending girls out to school was associated with loss of family honour, so home-based reading was preferred.
_Source: NCERT Class 10 History India and the Contemporary World - II, Ch 5 "Print Culture and the Modern World", §Women ¶2_
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