The textbook pages which feature factual inaccuracies. (Photo | Special Arrangement)
Odisha

Experts to be consulted before textbook finalisation: Odisha School and Mass Education (SME) secretary

Revised textbooks will be uploaded online for suggestions after 1,678 errors were found in SCERT books, with the state promising error-free editions and acting on a panel’s recommendations.

Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: The state government will seek feedback from educationists, experts and general public before finalising the revised school textbooks for printing, School and Mass Education (SME) secretary N Thirumala Naik said on Wednesday.

Addressing mediapersons, Naik said the revised textbooks will soon be uploaded on the department’s and Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA)’s websites to invite feedback from educationists and public. After considering all the suggestions and feedback received, the textbooks will be finalised and published.

“The state government has decided to provide all students with completely error-free new textbooks. Until the revised textbooks are made available, the corrected information will be shared with teachers and students so that teaching and learning can continue without interruption,” he added.

Naik said Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has taken the errors very seriously and directed that students should receive education through completely error-free textbooks. The government is committed to making the error-free textbooks available at the earliest, he added. A staggering 1,678 factual, typographical and printing errors were detected in school textbooks issued by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) for students of classes I to VIII for the 2026-27 academic session under NEP framework.

Based on the report of a three-member committee constituted on the direction of the chief minister, four officials including the former director of Teachers’ Training and the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) along with three assistant directors have been suspended. Disciplinary proceedings have also been initiated against six other officials in connection with the lapses.

The government has also decided to implement all 14 recommendations of the committee to strengthen the textbook preparation, review and publication process and prevent the recurrence of such errors.

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