The inquiry committee, constituted by Odisha government, that investigated 1,731 errors in school textbooks for Classes 1 to 8 has found that the process of preparing the books was undermined by repeated overlap in the roles assigned to resource persons, with some of the same people working as writers, reviewers, proofreaders and final subject experts.
The inquiry committee report, obtained through an RTI application by activist Pradip Pradhan, also found that the textbook development exercise for 55 books was completed in about four months, leaving subject experts with very little time for final review. The findings come amid a ruckus and repeated adjournments in the Odisha assembly proceedings following the opposition Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) demand for school and mass education minister Nityananda Gond’s resignation over errors in new textbooks for school children for the second consecutive day on Wednesday.
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Report flags overlapping responsibilities
The committee found that the repetition of resource people in different roles defeated the purpose of having separate stages of review. According to the report, for a particular subject and class, the same person was assigned overlapping responsibilities — in some cases as writer and reviewer, in others as reviewer and proofreader, and in some cases as writer, reviewer, proofreader and final subject expert.
“Errors were particularly likely to remain undetected when the person who wrote the material was also responsible for reviewing it or approving it as the final subject expert,” the report said.
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CID probe underway into textbook errors
An official of the department of school and mass education said, “A CID probe is underway in this matter and if there is any criminal negligence, it would be revealed by the agency.”
In July this year, Odisha government suspended former director of SCERT, Manoj Padhi, and assistant directors Pradipta Mishra, Dilip Kumar Sahu and Bharati Tudu. The suspension came following a probe led by development commissioner DK Singh which investigated the errors. Padhi was also arrested by CID. SCERT is the state agency that is entrusted with preparation of school textbooks.
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Textbooks contain factual and image errors
Among the errors highlighted in the report were the incorrect placement of the Niyamgiri hills of Kalahandi district in Jharkhand in the Class VII Social Science textbook “Bharat O Ama Pruthibi.” In the Class VIII Social Science textbook, a photograph of Karnataka’s Vidhana Soudha was used in the context of the Odisha Legislative Assembly.
The panel found the time allocated for textbook development exercise for 55 textbooks was just about four months while earlier exercise happened over three academic sessions. It has recommended a four-stage proofing system covering academic content, facts and images, language and the printer’s final proof, with signed clearance at each stage. It also proposed a final digitally approved PDF as locked master copy.