1,741 Errors Detected in Odisha School Textbooks, Govt Orders Corrective Measures

The Odisha government has detected 1,741 errors in textbooks for Classes 1 to 8, including grammatical, typographical, spelling, factual and conceptual mistakes, the state Assembly was informed on Friday.

School and Mass Education Minister Nityanand Gond, in a written reply to Congress MLA Sofia Firdous, said 1,075 grammatical, typographical and spelling errors and five factual and conceptual errors were identified in various textbooks. In addition, 661 suggestions were received for improving the content.

According to data provided by the minister, the Class 8 Science textbook recorded the highest number of errors at 294. It was followed by the Class 7 Urdu textbook with 121 errors, Class 8 Sanskrit with 114, Class 6 Social Science with 98 and Class 7 Sanskrit with 92.

Gond said steps had been taken to correct the errors in the revised editions of the textbooks. The government has also introduced specific measures, including fact-checking by subject and language experts, during the preparation of textbooks to prevent similar mistakes in future.

“Error-free books are being printed and distributed to students,” the minister said.

In a separate statement, Gond said the Directorate of Teacher Education and State Council of Educational Research and Training (TE&SCERT) was responsible for publishing the textbooks. The books were printed based on drafts prepared by the council.

The minister said some errors came to light after the books were printed and distributed to students. The government subsequently took disciplinary action, suspending the then director and three assistant directors.

Disciplinary proceedings were also initiated against six other assistant directors, Gond said, adding that the government had taken the issue seriously.

The government spent around ₹175 crore on the printing and publication of textbooks for Classes 1 to 8, according to the information provided in the Assembly.

The findings have prompted the state government to strengthen the review and verification process before textbooks are printed and distributed in schools.