Taking strong exception to glaring errors in newly introduced school textbooks for Classes I to VIII, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday (June 17, 2026) directed strict action against officials responsible for as many as 1,678 mistakes.

The magnitude of the errors has raised serious concerns among teachers and parents, who criticised the apparent lackadaisical manner in which the books were prepared.

Chairing a high-level meeting at the State Secretariat, attended by School and Mass Education Minister Nityanand Gond and Chief Secretary Anu Garg, the Chief Minister ordered immediate corrective measures.

A three-member high-level committee, headed by the Development Commissioner, has been instructed to probe the matter and submit its report within seven days, following which stringent action will be taken against the officials or institutions found responsible.

The textbooks were prepared by the Directorate of Teacher Education and the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

With schools set to reopen on June 18, teachers reviewing the newly supplied books flagged several glaring errors. For instance, Isaac Newton has been described as the “greatest pilot”, while a photograph of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly has been misidentified as that of the Odisha Legislative Assembly.

Similarly, the Niyamgiri Hill range in Odisha has been incorrectly identified as being located in Jharkhand, and an image of the Hampi complex has been wrongly labelled as the Konark temple. The books are also riddled with numerous grammatical and spelling mistakes, many of which can be easily spotted even by students.

According to Basudev Bhat, president of the Odisha Abhibhabak Sangh (Odisha Parents’ Federation), supplying corrected textbooks will take time as it involves revision, printing and redistribution.

“Students from Classes I to VIII are likely to suffer for a significant part of the academic year, as they may not receive error-free books for the next six to seven months,” he said.