Announcing a statewide ‘Shiksha Banchao Abhiyan’ (Save Education Campaign) from July 9 to 15, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Tuesday said its youth and student wings would stage protests across Odisha over alleged errors in school textbooks, accusing the BJP government of jeopardising primary education.
Chinmay Sahu
Announcing a statewide ‘Shiksha Banchao Abhiyan’ (Save Education Campaign) from July 9 to 15, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Tuesday said its youth and student wings would stage protests across Odisha over alleged errors in school textbooks, accusing the BJP government of jeopardising primary education.
The regional party also urged parents and guardians to join the agitation, stating that the campaign would continue until the allegedly error-ridden textbooks are withdrawn and quality educational material is provided to students.
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Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Chandabali MLA and BJD Senior General Secretary Byomkesh Ray, Biju Yuva Janata Dal president Chinmay Sahu, and Biju Chhatra Janata Dal president Ipsita Sahu alleged that more than 2,000 errors had been detected in textbooks for Classes I to VIII.
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They claimed that despite earlier assurances, the government has neither withdrawn the faulty textbooks nor supplied corrected editions.
The opposition leaders criticised the alleged lack of coordination between the Chief Minister, the School and Mass Education Minister, and departmental officials, saying their conflicting statements had only created confusion among students and parents.
They demanded that the government either provide error-free revised textbooks within a month or continue with the previous editions for the current academic year.
Alleging irregularities worth Rs 380 crore in textbook printing, the BJD leaders sought a high-level probe into the matter and demanded the removal of the School and Mass Education Minister.
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