The government has spent Rs 144 crore for publishing the textbooks for this year There are factual errors and typo in the text books Two versions on Basavanna's 'Upanayana' or sacred thread ceremony is one of the mistakes Teaching romance to Seventh standard students, 40 missing pages, 20 pages printed upside down are some of the mistakes
The Textbook Revision Committee Chairperson Dr Baragur Ramachandrappa is being criticised for revising all the textbooks from first to the tenth standard in haste, which has led to many mistakes from typo to factual error.
The government has spent Rs 144 crore for publishing the textbooks for this year. There are allegations that even when the committee members had told that it is not possible to revise the books for the next academic year. But the Chairperson was adamant that the changes should be made, and only the revised textbooks would be distributed to the schools.
Now the haste work has borne fruits and teachers are in a confusion whether or not to teach what is in the textbook.
Here are seven major mistakes made in the textbooks:
1) Two versions on Basavanna's 'Upanayana' or sacred thread ceremony
The Social Science textbook of the sixth standard states that social reformer Basavanna was against the sacred thread ceremony and thus had the Linga Deeksha (wearing a symbolic Shiva linga chain). But the seventh standard Kannada textbook states that Basavanna underwent sacred thread ceremony when he was eight years old and then had the Linga Deeksha at the age of 16.
2) Poem on Indian patriotism with picture of the US military uniform
The Hindi textbook has a patriotic poem but with a picture of a boy wearing the uniform of the US army.
3) Teaching romance to 7th standard students
The Kannada textbook of the seventh standard has a lesson by the title 'Nanna Ayya'. The description used in the poem are inappropriate for the seventh standard students which means the desires beyond the body, romantic imagination, etc.
4) Trying to create a rift between communities?
A lesson 'Avaru Mattthu Naavu' directly alleges that Dalits asked for rice and Brahmins gave them rotten rice or something like that. The poem looks like it is creating a divide.
5) 31 mistakes in one textbook
The Kannada textbook (second language) of the 10th standard has 31 mistakes including typo errors like dalige is written as dhaalige, chadara is written as chadura, etc.
6) Being too 'sportive'?
The 10th standard textbook states that PV Sindhu had won a bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics in badminton, but in reality, Sindhu had won a silver medal.
7) Now turn the book!
As if factual errors were not enough, 20 pages in the English textbook have been printed upside down, and more than 40 pages have vanished from the 8th standard Kannada textbook.
