BHUBANESWAR: Currently in the middle of a storm over the large-scale errors in textbooks prescribed for elementary students, the Directorate of Teacher Education and SCERT may soon be entrusted with the responsibility to develop curriculum, textbooks and training materials for all classes from Shishu Vatika to Class XII.
The recommendation forms part of the Odisha Curriculum Framework for School Education 2025, launched in September last year, which proposes a major restructuring of curriculum and textbook development in the state.
At present, curriculum design, textbook preparation and teacher training for classes I to VIII are being handled by SCERT, while the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) oversees these functions for classes IX and X.
Similarly for classes XI and XII, the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) is responsible for curriculum and training, while textbooks are developed by the Textbook Bureau under the Higher Education department.
The framework recommends consolidating these functions under a strengthened SCERT, aligned with the structure of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), to ensure uniformity and continuity in school education.
It also proposes strengthening the Directorate of Textbook Production and Marketing (TBPM) to undertake printing of textbooks and learning materials for all classes from Shishu Vatika to Class XII.
However, as the state government continues to draw severe flak over the hundreds of factual and typographical errors in textbooks, prepared by the SCERT, educationists and stakeholders are of the opinion that the government must be careful and assess the feasibility of the move.
“The current episode of large-scale errors in textbooks is a fallout of state government’s attempt to roll out National Education Policy (NEP) - 2020 hurriedly without readying necessary infrastructure or strengthening agencies responsible for its rollout. The state government should take adequate time before handing over such huge task to the directorate,” opined a government teacher from the state capital.
Sukanta Kumar Behera, general secretary of All Odisha Lower-Secondary Teachers’ Association, said though SCERT is capable of taking up the task, expanding its mandate to cover all grades needs strengthening it with adequate infrastructure and manpower, which may otherwise lead to issues related to quality control.
Authorities of School and Mass Education department couldn’t be reached for their comment.
