Odisha's Textbook Blunder: Over 1,700 Errors Found in School Materials

The Odisha government has acknowledged the discovery of 1,741 errors in textbooks for Classes I to VIII, leading to significant scrutiny and corrective measures. With a budget of Rs 175 crore spent on printing, the government is taking steps to rectify these mistakes and prevent future occurrences. Minister Nityanand Gond outlined the types of errors found and the actions taken against officials responsible for the oversight. This situation raises questions about the quality of educational materials provided to students in the state.

By Ambika Singh Sep 25, 2026, 22:13 IST

Significant Errors in Odisha's Textbooks

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government revealed on Friday that a staggering 1,741 mistakes were identified in textbooks for students from Classes I to VIII, with a total expenditure of Rs 175 crore allocated for their printing and distribution.

In response to a query from Congress MLA Sofia Firdous, State School and Mass Education Minister Nityanand Gond disclosed that the errors included 1,075 grammatical, typographical, and spelling mistakes, in addition to five factual and conceptual inaccuracies found in various school textbooks.

Furthermore, the minister noted that 661 recommendations were made to enhance the quality of the textbooks.

The breakdown of errors showed that the Class VIII Science textbook had 294 mistakes, the Class VII Urdu book contained 121 errors, the Class VIII Sanskrit book had 114, the Class VI Social Science book had 98, and the Class VII Sanskrit book had 92 errors.

Measures are being implemented to correct these mistakes in the upcoming revised editions of the textbooks.

Gond emphasized that specific protocols, including fact-checking by subject and language specialists, have been established during the textbook creation process to avoid similar issues in future publications. He assured that error-free books are being printed and provided to students.

Additionally, Gond mentioned that the Directorate of Teacher Education and the State Council of Educational Research and Training (TE&SCERT) were tasked with the publication of these textbooks, which were printed according to the draft prepared by the council.

After the printing and distribution, several errors were detected in the textbooks. In response, the government took decisive action by suspending the then-director and three assistant directors, while also initiating disciplinary measures against six other assistant directors.