Serious errors and controversial content in Odisha’s school textbooks sparked widespread concern among teachers, students and parents on Tuesday, with the issue escalating into a political confrontation between the ruling BJP and the opposition BJD.
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The controversy goes beyond spelling and printing mistakes, with critics alleging that several textbooks contain factually incorrect, unverified or scientifically unsupported content.
Among the examples drawing attention is a Class IV literature lesson claiming that the Pandavs and Kauravas played kabaddi and that Dushasana slapped Yudhisthira. A Class V textbook narrates that astronomer Pathani Samanta accurately predicted the day of his death before travelling to Puri for Lord Jagannath’s darshan.
Another lesson mentions a cave in Keonjhar associated with the birth of Lava and Kusha and includes a local belief that childless women can conceive by performing rituals there. The Class VI Skill Education book has also drawn criticism for including a lesson on preparing ‘Jhal Mudhi’.
Teachers have expressed dissatisfaction over the Education Department’s decision to issue only PDF corrigenda instead of reprinting corrected textbooks. Schools have reportedly been instructed to download the revised pages and manually correct the errors in students’ books, increasing the workload of teachers.
Educationists have suggested that while reprinting textbooks mid-session may not be practical, every student should receive a corrected edition or printed corrigendum to ensure uniform learning material.
Meanwhile, the issue has taken a political turn, with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) staging protests outside Lok Seva Bhawan, performing a symbolic ‘homa yajna’ (havan) and chanting devotional hymns while demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister and School and Mass Education (S&ME) Minister.
“We had two demands today. The first demand is that Nityananda Gond should be dismissed. The second demand is that this should be handed over to the CBI. This is not about Rs 1-2 crore. Because they couldn’t give Rs 20-22 crore, allowances cannot be paid now. This is a scam of Rs 380 crore, which is not a small thing. People should know about this scam. And the books should be recalled immediately, and new books should be printed and distributed to the children,” BJD’s Ipsita Sahoo said.
Party workers later attempted to march towards the S&ME minister’s residence, leading to a scuffle with police near Lok Bhawan Square. The BJD also demanded withdrawal of the allegedly error-ridden textbooks and a CBI probe, alleging irregularities in the textbook printing process. The BJP, however, maintained that the State government has already initiated a review of the errors and is taking necessary corrective action.
“The demand being made by the BJD is completely unreasonable. The new leaders who have joined the BJD are protesting just to prove their presence or establish their leadership, attempting to show that the BJD has not split, is still united, and is not going to break up,” BJP leader, Suratha Biswal, stated.
“Regarding this error, whatever the mistake and whatever the reason behind it, some action has already been taken. Furthermore, both the Chief Minister and the Education Minister have assured that more action will be taken. We just need to wait for a little while,” the BJP leader added.
Suranjan Mishra
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