Newton was the great ‘pilot’, wheat was called paddy, temperature was called pressure and Karnataka Assembly was printed as Odisha’s, 1678 mistakes recorded in the government book of Odisha.

Odisha. Sir Isaac Newton is the “greatest pilot”. An image of Karnataka Assembly was published as Odisha Assembly and an image of Hampi Temple complex was published as Konark Sun Temple, while Niyamgiri hills were shown as Jharkhand. Controversy has arisen after 1678 mistakes came to light in the government textbooks for classes 1 to 8 prepared for the 2026-27 academic session under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and Odisha Curriculum Framework 2025. Let us tell you that these textbooks were prepared under the supervision of Directorate of Teacher Education and State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).

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The new textbooks have come under scrutiny soon after arriving in schools after teachers highlighted several factual, ideological and typographical errors. Other mistakes included placing the Niyamgiri Hills of Odisha in Jharkhand, identifying Berhampur as a district instead of a town in Ganjam district, and confusing wheat with paddy. There were many conceptual errors in the science sections. Temperature was represented as pressure, food webs were confused with food cycles, and the word “equinox” was mistakenly replaced with “equator.” These errors sparked criticism from teachers, many of whom questioned how such mistakes were missed in the review process before publication.

Let us tell you that according to the Department of School and Mass Education, maximum mistakes have been found in the textbooks of class 8. Of the 1,678 errors found in classes 1 to 8, 705 errors were found in class 8 books alone. Teachers reported discrepancies soon after the books were distributed, and raised concerns over the quality checks conducted before publication.

The department has issued a revised letter to schools acknowledging the mistakes. Teachers have been instructed to use these modifications while conducting classes so that there is no impact on students during the academic session.

When the matter became serious, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi held a review meeting with senior officials. A review meeting was held at Lok Seva Bhawan in the presence of School and Mass Education Minister Nityanand Gond, Chief Secretary Anu Garg and senior officials. After this the Chief Minister announced a three-member committee under the chairmanship of the Development Commissioner. The panel has been asked to submit its report within seven days.

Apart from fixing accountability, the government has also ordered a review of the textbook preparation process to strengthen the quality control mechanism and prevent similar lapses in future editions. The controversy has raised fresh questions over the scrutiny process of school textbooks, as more than 1,600 errors ranging from factual mistakes to ideological errors have been found in books used by students across the state.