JAC chairman Shaligram Yadav

Ranchi, Dec. 12: Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) and the publisher of JAC model question papers are yet to react on the bloomers although lakhs of students of the state are grasping misleading facts.

No initiative had been taken to withdraw the books from the market yet. Nor does anybody seem to be interested in rectifying the errors.

Expressing shock over the entire episode, a section of teachers have sought an inquiry even as JAC sources said the officials preparing files and notes were responsible for the muddle.

When the publisher and distributor of the model papers — Jharkhand Book Distributors, Jamshedpur — was approached about the plethora of mistakes in the model papers, The Telegraph was told: “Ask the council about it.”

Its officials also refused to divulge the number of copies of the books printed.

JAC chairman Shaligram Yadav could not be contacted despite repeated efforts.

A person receiving one of the umpteen calls made to the chairman’s office said Yadav was busy in a conversation. He took down the telephone numbers of the Ranchi office of The Telegraph and said the chairman would get back later, but the “promised” call never came.

Subsequent calls to the chairman’s office went unanswered.

Several students of the capital approached their teachers noticing the glaring mistakes in the papers. But the pupils of rural areas and small towns hardly have anyone to approach.

Moderate price of the books and the official stamp of JAC on them ensure a huge turnover for both the council and the publisher. But the students are left in the lurch despite spending on the booklets.

“Any publication of JAC becomes gospel for students, particularly those in rural schools. But spelling errors like ‘theif’ instead of thief and ‘protien’ instead of protein in the books are misleading thousands of students,” complained a schoolteacher.

“It is horrifying to imagine the future of students depending on these booklets. If the JAC officials really mean business and want to improve the standard of teaching in the state, these booklets should be withdrawn from the market immediately and reprinted with corrections,” said a science teacher.

The JAC model question paper of English (core) for Jharkhand Intermediate Examination, 2006, was full of errors in grammar, spellings and composition. It was expected that the subsequent JAC publications would be better produced.

But that was not to be.