Odisha CM orders probe into 1,600 errors in Classes 1-8 textbooks

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday ordered the setting up of a three-member panel to identify those responsible for around 1,600 errors in new textbooks of classes 1 to 8. A day earlier, a section of teachers in government-run schools pointed out several errors in the textbooks, including spelling mistakes and incorrect names of eminent personalities.

This prompted the opposition to attack the BJP government over the issue, saying it exposed the dispensation's "extreme carelessness and utterly callous attitude" that has hurt Odia pride. President of the Primary Teachers' Association, Brahmananda Maharana, said more than 1,600 errors have been detected in these school textbooks prepared in adherence to the National Education Policy-2020 and prescribed for the 2026-27 academic session.

He said a photograph of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly was used in place of the Odisha Assembly, while Odisha's Niyangiri hills, spread over Kalahandi and Rayagada districts, were stated as being located in Jharkhand. On Wednesday, Majhi checked the textbooks and expressed his displeasure over the errors. He ordered the formation of a panel to be headed by the development commissioner, which will submit its report within seven days.

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Teachers flag errors, wrong images

Majhi also ordered the authorities concerned to immediately correct printing mistakes in the textbooks. BJD president Naveen Patnaik came down heavily on the state's BJP government over the issue and said that it was the result of "extreme carelessness and utterly callous attitude".

In a post on X, the leader of the opposition said, "The detection of hundreds of errors in Odia textbooks for classes 1 to 8 exposes the BJP government's extreme carelessness and utterly callous attitude." "While this government fails to provide textbooks to children on time, the textbooks that have been provided are also riddled with numerous errors, shattering children's hopes for education," he said.

Patnaik alleged that the education system under the BJP government has completely collapsed. "How does the BJP government intend to shape the future of children?" he posed. The BJD president also expressed concern over the "disrespect" to the eminent personalities of the state and the textbooks naming Berhampur as a district in place of Ganjam.

"Erroneous spellings are not trivial matters. By trampling upon the prestige of 'Odia Asmita,' the BJP regime, since coming to power, has disrespected the Odia language and script the most," he alleged. "The insults inflicted by the BJP government on children's education from childhood are never forgivable," Patnaik said.

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Opposition seeks accountability

The textbooks were revised by the Directorate of Teacher Education and the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) by engaging teachers and academic experts for the curriculum overhaul undertaken in alignment with NEP 2020.

At a press conference, Odisha Congress chief Bhakta Charan Das announced that party workers would gherao the school and the mass education minister's official residence on Thursday. Rs 50 crore was spent to print the textbooks, which are now being dumped for being full of errors, he said.

"The BJP came to power in Odisha on the plank of protecting Odia identity, but is instead destroying it and crippling the future of school children," Das said. The BJD, in a statement, termed the newly published textbooks a national embarrassment. BJD MLA and former minister Arun Sahoo alleged that education was not a priority for the BJP government.

"The government is only interested in appointing people who align with their ideology, completely bypassing qualified experts. If this saffronisation policy is not abandoned, the education system will collapse," he warned. Odisha CPI(M)'s state secretary Suresh Panigrahy demanded that school students across the state should be provided with error-free textbooks for free.