Amid widespread public criticism and mounting Opposition attacks over glaring errors in school textbooks, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday ordered a criminal investigation into the entire textbook preparation process.
The decision is being widely viewed as a damage-control measure by the government, which has already suspended four senior education officials and initiated disciplinary proceedings against six others over the fiasco.
Describing Sir Isaac Newton, one of history’s greatest physicists, as a “great pilot” was among more than 1,600 spelling, grammatical and factual errors found in newly introduced textbooks for Classes I to VIII, triggering public outrage and leaving the Odisha government red-faced.
The Chief Minister has directed that the entire process behind the preparation of the error-ridden textbooks be brought under criminal investigation, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a statement.
Majhi also directed the Director of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) to lodge an FIR with the Crime Branch Superintendent of Police.
The sheer number of errors and the absurd presentation of facts have raised serious questions about how the textbooks cleared multiple layers of scrutiny, editing and quality control before reaching lakhs of schoolchildren across the state.
The controversy has provided fresh ammunition to Opposition parties, which have targeted the BJP government over what they termed its failure to maintain basic academic standards and ensure accountability in the school education system.
On June 26, the state government suspended four senior SCERT officials, including its former Director and three Assistant Directors, after a high-level inquiry held them accountable for the lapses. Disciplinary proceedings were also initiated against six other Assistant Directors.
The inquiry, conducted by a committee headed by the Development Commissioner, was ordered by the Chief Minister to determine how the errors had crept into the textbooks and to identify officials responsible for the breakdown in the preparation and scrutiny process.
Acting on the committee’s findings, Majhi approved disciplinary action against the officials concerned and ordered a comprehensive overhaul of the textbook preparation and quality-control mechanism.
The criminal probe will now seek to establish whether the fiasco involved criminal wrongdoing beyond administrative negligence, as the government struggles to contain the fallout from one of the most embarrassing textbook controversies in the state’s school education system.