BHUBANESWAR: Images of branded products used by the State government as content of 'supplementary reading material' for Class III students will be removed from the Odia text book 'Pathana Pustika' from this year.
A direction to this effect has been sent by the Directorate of Teacher Education and SCERT to Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA), after the concept drew severe criticism from various quarters.
The SCERT has asked OSEPA to remove the page of the supplementary reading material that contained images of branded food products and beverage with words such as 'Chocolate', 'Frooti', 'Kurkure', 'Biscuit' and 'Horlicks' written in Odia.
The Directorate asked OSEPA to instruct the District Education Officers for implementation of the order. "The DEOs need to ensure that teachers are properly sensitised not to use and demonstrate the page while teaching the students," it wrote. Educationists questioned how does these words aid in supplementary reading of Odia at Class III level.
They also wanted to know if these images were included in the supplementary material as part of any sponsorship and product promotion. Sources said it was SCERT that had vetted the content prior to their publication.