Bhubaneswar, 25 September (H.S.): Odisha School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond on Friday informed the State Assembly that a total of 1,741 errors and suggestions had been identified in SCERT textbooks for Classes I to VIII issued during the current academic session.

Replying to a question raised by MLA Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, the Minister said that, as recorded in the published corrigendum, five were factual or conceptual errors, 1,075 were grammatical, typographical or spelling errors, while 661 were suggestions for improvement.

Gond informed the House that before the textbooks received final approval from the Core Committee, they were prepared and developed through a workshop-based process. The textbooks were subsequently reviewed and proofread and examined by subject experts for a day.

The Minister said specific errors had also been detected in references to the photograph of the Odisha Legislative Assembly, the location of the Niyamgiri Hills and the identification of the Konark Sun Temple. A corrigendum containing the corrected information has been sent to schools for reference by teachers and students.

Taking note of the lapses, the former Director of DTE & SCERT and three Assistant Directors have been suspended. Disciplinary proceedings have also been initiated against six Assistant Directors of DTE & SCERT.

The Minister said corrective measures have been undertaken to prevent the recurrence of such errors and to ensure greater accuracy in the representation of Odisha's history, geography, language and cultural heritage in future revised editions of the textbooks.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda