14 DAY TRIAL // School textbooks in the Indian western state of Gujarat were found to contain several factual errors that completely change history. Apparently, the inaccurate information has slipped into the textbooks due to a poorly done translation job.
It seems that more than 59 factual errors were found in the books that have already been distributed to over 50,000 students. In addition, there are also a lot of spelling and grammatical mistakes.
These errors not only confuse students, because they present inaccurate information, but also show the government's lack of interest when it comes to education matters.
According to the textbooks meant for sixth to eighth grade, “Japan dropped a nuclear bomb on the US during World War II,” not the other way around. The book also claims that the “Proportion of poisonous gas CO3 has increased due to cutting of trees,” but in fact carbon trioxide is not normally found in nature.
The bad translation wrongly states that “Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on October 30, 1948,” when he was actually killed on January 30, 1948. It also calls Pakistan an “Islamic Islamabad nation,” and says that the country's capital is “Khaiber Ghat.” In reality, Pakistan is officially known as Islamic Republic of Pakistan and its capital is Islamabad.
Although Gujarat Council of Educational Research and Training, the agency responsible for the book's publication, has apologized, the book hasn’t been recalled from schools.
“We are trying to bring out an errors list and publish it on the internet. We cannot recall the books at this stage. But we give an assurance that we will correct the mistakes,” said Nitin Pethani, the executive president of the Gujarat state board of school textbooks, cited by Bustle.
India's Education Minister, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, has also issued a statement, saying that “We have set up a two-member committee to look into these errors and make changes immediately. We are also initiating action against the panelist who had vetted the books.”
Many have criticized the government for their failure to conduct elementary checks before distributing the books to students.
“What is surprising is why basic checks were not carried out before circulating the books,” wonders Professor Vasant Bhatt of Gujarat University.
“This clearly is the reflection of the competency of the writers of the book. There should have been some semblance of sensibility while clearing the draft of these books,” adds Nirav Thakkar, the principal of a school in Ahmedabad.