Bhubaneswar, Jun 17: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday took a strong stance on the errors detected in newly published government school textbooks for Classes I to VIII and directed immediate corrective measures, officials said.

Chairing a high-level meeting at Lok Seva Bhavan, CM Majhi ordered the formation of a three-member committee under the chairmanship of the State’s Development Commissioner to fix responsibility for the lapses.

The committee has been tasked with submitting its report within seven days. Based on its findings, strict action will be taken against officials or institutions found accountable. The Chief Minister stressed that the mistakes must be corrected without delay to ensure quality in educational materials.

The meeting was attended virtually by School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond, Chief Secretary Anu Garg, and senior officials. Mr. Majhi underlined the seriousness of the issue, noting that the integrity of textbooks is central to the education system and negligence will not be tolerated.

The errors, identified in textbooks prepared by SCERT Odisha under the Odisha Curriculum 2025 and aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP 2020), go beyond typographical mistakes with 1,678 errors. They include factual inaccuracies, geographical distortions, misspelled names of noted personalities, and incorrect photographs.
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Examples include a photograph of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly printed as the Odisha Assembly, Niyamgiri Hills wrongly described as being in Jharkhand, Berhampur referred to as a district instead of a city in Ganjam, and Sir Isaac Newton bizarrely described as the “greatest pilot.” Class VIII textbooks contained the highest number of errors, with 705 mistakes across subjects including Jijnasa, Sanskrit, Social Science, Literature, English, and Mathematics.

Educationists have opined that such lapses could mislead students about their history, geography, culture, and identity. The government’s swift response reflects its intent to uphold accountability and restore confidence in the education system.