NEW DELHI: A recent advertisement by the Delhi government in city dailies inviting applications for the state level teachers award 2016 has stumped the readers and academicians. They are baffled not because of the eligibility for the award or the prize money, but because an education department release is replete with spelling errors.
The advertisement was carried by prominent newspapers on July 9. A careful study reveals that there are as many as five major spelling mistakes. And the issuing authority is none other than the Directorate of Education (DoE).
“It’s a telling comment on how the bureaucracy works in this country,” fumed educationist and retired JNU prof Siddheshwar Naik, equating the “bunch of those” who cleared the ad with the elementary level students in government schools with poor learning outcomes.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government, however, seemed unaware of the glaring discrepancies. The ad was first published in March with similar mistakes and it has been repeated this time too. Officials in DoE refused to comment when contacted.
“At first, I felt it was some kind of joke but I was surprised when I realised what the government has done. By this time, they should have issued a corrigendum,” said a vice-principle of a government school who has applied for the award.
An official in the HRD Ministry said all advertisements issued in the newspapers are carefully scrutinised at the three to four levels before their release. An official said a couple of spelling errors might go unnoticed. “But this kind of shoddy job on the part of the officials who have even got the spelling of the word ‘website’ wrong is incomprehensible.”
The awards carries a cash prize of `25,000, a silver medal, a shawl and a citation.