Odisha Government to Withdraw and Replace Flawed School Textbooks for Classes 1–8 Following Backlash

Odisha Textbooks: In response to the immense public pressure and criticism from educationists, the government of Odisha has now taken an about turn in its policy and has declared that it is withdrawing the erroneous textbooks which have been released for classes 1 to 8. The SCERT has now been instructed to stop the use of these controversial textbooks immediately and start the process of reprinting the books after correcting all the mistakes and bringing out new editions free of all faults. 

The controversy blew up due to the fact that the opposition political parties, teachers' organizations and conscious citizens raised the issue of numerous factual errors, geographical mistakes and inappropriate material in the curriculum that has been devised for Class 1 to Class 8 in the 2026–27 session. Realizing the magnitude of the problem and its implications, the chief minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi has constituted a committee to conduct a probe into the matter and find out how these mistakes crept in during the printing process. To tide over the period while waiting for the new corrected textbooks, the School and Mass Education department has made arrangements for using digital sheets in the classroom till then.

Corrective Action Plan & Strategy

The School and Mass Education Department Secretary, N. Thirumala Naik, described the government’s two-pronged plan for mitigation as follows:

Ensuring Uninterrupted Classroom Learning

In order to maintain the schedule of classes and unit tests from being affected by any change, teachers have been informed that daily lessons need to be taught using the correction lists provided by the Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA). The new and revised physical books will be provided free of cost by the DEOs once the public review process is completed.