BHUBANESWAR: Facing serious flak over large-scale errors in textbooks for classes I-VIII, School and Mass Education minister Nityananda Gond on Monday said the state government has initiated steps to send revised copies of textbooks with all necessary corrections to schools.
Speaking to mediapersons here, Gond reiterated that strict action will be taken against those responsible for the massive errors in the new textbooks. He said based on the report of the committee, constituted on the direction of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, four officials including former director of Teachers Training and State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and three assistant directors have been suspended.
Disciplinary proceedings have also been initiated against six other officers in this connection. “Appropriate action will be taken against those responsible for the lapses after further inquiry,” he said.
The minister informed that the department has taken measures to provide copies containing corrections, which will be made available to all teachers for classroom teaching this academic session. The recommendations of the committee will also be implemented on priority to ensure such errors do not recur in future.
The government had constituted the three-member committee, headed by the development commissioner, after a staggering 1,678 factual, typographical and printing errors were detected in school textbooks across subjects, triggering massive outrage in the state.
The government has decided to implement all 14 recommendations of the committee aimed at strengthening textbook preparation, review and publication mechanisms and preventing recurrence of such errors.
Among the immediate measures, SCERT has been directed to publish a master errata register within seven days and distribute printed correction sheets to all students.
To institutionalise quality control, the committee has recommended establishment of a Textbook Quality Assurance Cell within SCERT and creation of subject-wise Curricular Area Groups and book-wise Textbook Development Committees on the lines of NCERT.
The other recommendations include introduction of a four-stage proofing system and a final locked PDF mechanism before books are sent for printing, besides creation of a public errata portal for reporting and tracking errors.
