Bhubaneswar, August 19: The newly published NCERT Class 9 Social Science (SST) textbook has come under criticism after several errors were found in the world map on page 216. Parents have alleged that the map contains around 11 mistakes, including incorrect names and locations of countries and oceans.
According to the complaint, China has been labelled as Canada, the Indian Ocean has been shown as the Pacific Ocean, and the US has been placed near Russia. Greenland has also been shown in place of Australia, while the name “India” has reportedly been spelt incorrectly.
The errors have raised concern among students and parents, particularly because map work carries marks in examinations. Students fear that following the incorrect map in the textbook could lead to confusion and loss of marks.
However, NCERT’s official PDF of the textbook available on its website reportedly contains the correct map. The maps in books available through NCERT’s Regional Institutes of Education, as well as those distributed in some Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas and Kendriya Vidyalayas, are also said to be accurate.
A senior NCERT official has clarified that some publishers are allegedly selling unauthorised copies of NCERT textbooks by reproducing the logo, barcode, authors’ details and publication information. Parents may unknowingly purchase these books from the market.
NCERT has advised students and parents to rely on textbooks available through its official website and authorised institutions. Students have meanwhile demanded an immediate correction of the errors to avoid confusion in their studies and examinations.
