Textbook Controversy: Over 1,600 Errors Found in New NEP School Books
Odisha’s government schools are in the middle of a heated debate after officials found 1,678 errors in the new textbooks for Classes I to VIII. These books, meant for the 2026-27 school year, have got teachers, parents, and students seriously worried. The magnitude of the editing oversight is particularly pronounced in the Class VIII curriculum, which stands out as the worst-affected segment by accounting for 705 individual mistakes.
People aren’t just upset about spelling mistakes. There’s a whole collection of bizarre factual and historical goofs. One glaring example: a textbook tells kids that Sir Isaac Newton was a “great pilot” instead of a scientist. Then it bungles the classic story about Newton, saying he boiled “water” instead of eggs — but actually, the real story is he once boiled his own watch because he was lost in thought during an experiment. The picture section isn’t any better; one book uses an image of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and says it’s Odisha’s Assembly, and another shows the Hampi temple complex to represent Konark Sun Temple.
Mistakes don’t stop there. They’re scattered across all kinds of subjects and languages — Odia, Hindi, Sanskrit, English, Urdu, you name it. There are geographical errors, too. The books move the Niyamgiri Hills from Odisha to Jharkhand and incorrectly labels the city of Berhampur as “Berhampur district,” failing to recognize it as a city within Ganjam district where the Humma salt pans are situated. In core subjects like science and geography, things get even messier: wheat is miswritten paddy, glass is swapped for cup, temperature and pressure get mixed up, a “food web” becomes a “food cycle,” and an equinox mislabeled as equator.
These 55 new Odia textbooks were put together by the Directorate of Teacher Education and SCERT, with input from experienced teachers and experts. The idea was to update the state curriculum in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the new Odisha school education framework for 2025. Printing issues delayed the books, and teachers only found the mistakes once the books arrived in classrooms.
School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond says there’s now a steering committee supervising the rollout, and SCERT based the books on NCERT guidelines. He blamed the huge number of mistakes on the rushed timeline for getting these textbooks ready and says fixes are in progress. Senior officials have pulled together a list of all the errors, sent out corrections, and told schools to use them so kids aren’t left confused. But teachers aren’t happy. Brahmananda Maharana, president of the Primary School Teachers Association, slammed the oversight, saying textbooks play a big part in shaping students futures. He called for a full review of how the books are made and wants those responsible held accountable.
