Bhubaneswar: Discovery of large-scale errors in newly introduced textbooks for classes I to VIII in govt schools has triggered controversy in what was meant to be a landmark academic exercise under National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The issue has raised concerns over the quality of textbook development process in Odisha.According to a school and mass education department review, 1,678 errors were identified across textbooks for classes I to VIII. The mistakes range from spelling and grammatical errors to incorrect references to eminent personalities and factual inaccuracies.The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) introduced 55 new textbooks for the eight grades for the 2026-27 academic session. Class VIII textbooks account for the highest number of errors at 705, followed by Class VII with 387 and Class VI with 289. Errors have also been identified in textbooks for lower classes, including 131 in Class IV, 75 each in classes III and V, and 12 in Class II books.The state govt had last year announced a comprehensive overhaul of the school curriculum as part of its education reforms, with new textbooks to be introduced in a phased manner. The revised curriculum was designed largely on the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) framework to align the state’s syllabus with national standards.To facilitate the transition, the govt formed a high-level committee headed by educationist Nityananda Pradhan to recommend curriculum changes, while separate expert committees were tasked with developing the new textbooks. However, the scale of errors detected has prompted teachers and educationists to question the processes followed in the preparation, review and publication of the books.Ajit Maharana, a teacher and cluster coordinator, said textbooks are normally subjected to multiple rounds of academic review and proofreading before publication. “Preparing even a single new textbook within a year is considered a challenging task. In this case, work on 55 textbooks reportedly began around Aug-Sept 2025 and was completed within six months. That leaves little time for thorough review and proofreading. Besides, questions remain about whether the books were developed independently or adapted from NCERT texts. Original writing by subject experts is unlikely to contain such a large number of errors,” he said.In contrast, NCERT generally takes between one and three years to develop and publish a textbook, involving extensive consultations and reviews by multiple expert committees.A govt school teacher, requesting anonymity, said she had never seen such a large-scale textbook revision undertaken within such a short period. “In my four decades as a teacher, syllabus revisions and textbook development were usually carried out one subject at a time over several years. This is the first time 55 new books have been prepared within six to seven months,” she said.Educationists have also expressed concerns about the practicality of correcting all the errors in classrooms through corrigenda circulated among teachers, arguing that younger students may continue to be affected by inaccuracies in the printed books.Meanwhile, School and Mass Education minister Nityananda Gond attributed the mistakes to the accelerated implementation of NEP 2020. “In the effort to implement NEP within a short period, mistakes have occurred in the new textbooks. This was also an experimental edition. Whenever new books are introduced, some errors may remain and are corrected in subsequent editions. We have already initiated corrective measures and I appeal to everyone not to politicise the issue,” he said.Educationists have also expressed concerns about the practicality of correcting all the errors in classrooms through corrigenda circulated among teachers, arguing that younger students may continue to be affected by inaccuracies in the printed books.Meanwhile, school and mass education minister Nityananda Gond attributed the mistakes to the accelerated implementation of NEP 2020. “In the effort to implement NEP within a short period, mistakes have occurred in the new textbooks. This was also an experimental edition. Whenever new books are introduced, some errors may remain and are corrected in subsequent editions. We have already initiated corrective measures and I appeal to everyone not to politicise the issue,” he said.
