Bhubaneswar, June 17: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday warned of stern action against those responsible for the grammatical and factual errors in the newly introduced Odia textbooks for Classes I to VIII in Government schools. The CM directed formation of a three-member committee headed by the Development Commissioner to probe the lapses and asked it to submit a report within seven days.
Based on the findings of the committee’s report, stern legal action will be taken against officials/agency found responsible for the error, said a CMO communique.
Taking a serious view of several errors including “spelling mistakes” and “incorrect names” of eminent personalities in new textbooks, the Chief Minister held a meeting with School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond, Chief Secretary Anu Garg and other key officials on virtual mode at the Lok Seva Bhavan and directed immediate measures to rectify the mistakes.
As many as 1,678 spelling, factual and contextual errors have been identified in textbooks across multiple subjects and classes, raising concerns over the quality of books prepared under the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 for the 2026-27 academic session.
The books were prepared by the Directorate of Teacher Education and the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).
The errors came to light after the textbooks, delayed due to printing issues, recently reached schools. In one textbook, Sir Isaac Newton is described as a “great pilot” instead of a scientist.
A photograph of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly has been identified as the Odisha Legislative Assembly, while an image of the Hampi temple complex has been used to depict the Konark Sun Temple. Similarly, Humma salt pans have been shown as being located in “Berhampur district” instead of Ganjam district and Niyamgiri has been identified as a mountain range in Jharkhand rather than Odisha.
