Many of the mistakes in textbooks released by the Odisha government have their origins in content drawn from textbooks published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and the framework of the National Education Policy (NEP).
The Directorate of Teacher Education and the State Council of Educational Research and Training (TE and SCERT), Odisha, has developed textbooks for students from Class I to Class VIII at government-run schools. These books contain a range of errors, including spelling mistakes, factual inaccuracies and the inclusion of information that critics say promotes a particular ideology and is unrelated to the subject being taught.
Academicians and activists have argued that such content, especially information they describe as contentious or unrelated to the discipline, could discourage scientific temper among children. They said the NEP advocated the introduction of the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in textbooks and alleged that some textbook writers attempted to include unscientific and unrelated material in subjects.
The social science textbook for Class VII published by TE and SCERT contains a chapter that has been translated and reproduced from the chapter “How the Land Becomes Sacred” in the NCERT Class VII social science textbook, Exploring Society—India and Beyond.
The NCERT chapter defines “sacredness” as “something of deep religious or spiritual significance, worthy of respect and reverence, holy or divine”. Under the subheading “Becoming Aware of Sacred Geography”, it discusses sacred places spread across India.
The chapter refers to the Char Dham Yatra, the 12 jyotirlingas and the 51 Shakti pithas, stating that these networks span the country and contribute to the creation of a sacred geography. It further recounts the mythological story associated with the Shakti pithas, explaining how different parts of the divine mother Sati’s body are believed to have fallen across the subcontinent.
Similarly, the Class VIII mathematics textbook contains a chapter on exponents and powers that includes a reference to religious marches, stating: “Padayatra is the traditional practice of walking long distances as part of a religious or spiritual pursuit.”
Subash Nayak, secretary of the All India Save Education Committee (Odisha chapter), said the new NCERT and Odisha government textbooks contain IKS-related content that has little relevance to the subjects concerned.
“Mythology is certainly not suitable to be taught in mathematics. This will discourage scientific temper among children. It is unnecessary and highly undesirable,” Nayak said.
Professor Apoorvanand of Delhi University said the content on sacred geography was driven by the objective of promoting Hindutva ideology.
“This is very sad for children. The concerns and motivation behind writing these textbooks are not children but the promotion of Hindutva ideology...,” he said.