Odisha textbook errors: panel flags repeated resource persons, weak review

A three-member inquiry committee examining the more than 1,700 errors in Odisha's newly published school textbooks has identified overlapping roles among resource persons, weak academic scrutiny and compressed timelines as key reasons for the mistakes slipping through.

The committee, headed by senior IAS officer DK Singh, found that the same individuals were engaged in multiple capacities — as writers, reviewers, proofreaders and final subject experts. When one person acted as both writer and reviewer, or as the final subject expert, errors went undetected, the report noted.

The mistakes were not limited to printing defects. They spanned content, concepts, facts, pictures and language, including factual inaccuracies, grammatical errors and incorrect references. The panel concluded that the rigours of academic scrutiny and final academic approval were weak.

According to the findings, writers received no formal orientation on translating and contextualising textbooks, while subject experts were given a single day for final review and editing, down from three days earlier. No written records showed oversight of the development process by any senior supervisory officer.

The committee compared the preparation of the new textbooks for Classes 1 to 8 for the 2026-27 academic year with the phased approach followed after the National Curriculum Framework, 2005, when books were rolled out between 2007 and 2012. The latest exercise conceptualised and introduced textbooks within a year from 2025-26, and no field testing was conducted in 2025-26.

Other lapses included failure to fact-check and verify images, negligence in language editing and proofreading, and a breakdown in supervision.

On responsibility, the panel said content, concept, science, history, geography, social science, child-appropriateness, translation and language errors should rest with the State Council of Educational Research and Training, its textbook development wing and those involved in the process. Administrative responsibility was recommended for the Odisha School Education Programme Authority, which handles indenting, logistics, free textbook supply and distribution coordination. Supervisory responsibility at the department level should be fixed for prescribing an unrealistic or excessively compressed timeline that led to relaxed academic review, proofing and fact-checking.

To prevent a repeat, the committee recommended four proof stages before bulk printing — academic proof, fact and image proof, language proof and printer's final proof — with a signed clearance certificate mandatory at each stage.

The errors surfaced across 55 new textbooks, prompting the state government to suspend seven key education officials and withdraw the books. A Crime Branch inquiry led to the arrest of former SCERT director Manoj Padhi. New textbooks are now being distributed.

The findings have become a political flashpoint, with the youth and students' wings of the Biju Janata Dal stepping up attacks on the BJP government. Thousands of BJD workers staged a dharna outside the state Assembly, demanding the resignation of School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond.