Maharashtra teachers point out more mistakes in new class 7, class 9 social studies textbooks

Mumbai city news: More than 17 lakh students use these books every year, but teachers complained that the new ones were misleading students with wrong facts

After reports of inaccurate and hand drawn maps in geography, teachers have pointed out more mistakes in the new state education board social studies textbooks for classes 7 and 9.

After Hindustan Times reported the clumsily drawn maps on Wednesday, teachers pointed out at least 10 to 15 more errors. (HT)

Teachers have asked the education department to rectify the mistakes and called for revised versions.

This is the fifth year in a row that the textbooks based on the state board syllabus have been criticised for factual gaffes. Last year, the sociology textbook skirted controversy for containing a sexist remark on the practice of dowry.

More than 17 lakh students use these books every year, but teachers complained that the new ones were misleading students with wrong facts. After Hindustan Times reported the clumsily drawn maps on Wednesday, teachers pointed out at least 10 to 15 more errors.

One of the maps on page 46 of the book shows that Rajasthan receives more rainfall than West Bengal and Assam. Another on page 72 shows that Antarctica is larger than the other continents.

“These are really silly mistakes that should have been spotted in the early stages of proof-reading,” said Vidyadhar Amrute, a retired professor from Sathaye College, Vile Parle, and member of the Mumbai Geography Teachers Association.

Amrute said that some of the members of a panel that was suspended in 2013 for excluding Arunachal Pradesh from the Indian map in the book — an error that forced the department to issue lakhs of corrective stickers for all the new ones. “The department is not taking any action against teachers who are responsible for these mistakes. They are reappointed after suspension without any inquiry,” said Amrute.

But the state’s textbook publishing bureau, Balbharti, said that they will not make any corrections unless more people complain. “We do not entertain complaints by individual teachers, but if a group complaints come in, we will look into it,” said Sunil Magar, director of the bureau.

He added that he had not yet received the geography teachers’ complaints. “If they are valid, we will make the corrections through our monthly magazine, Shikshan Sankraman,” he said.

Errors in Class 7 textbooks:

Diagrams on page 4, 5, and 6, show the world map inside a circle, and not a sphere.

Map on page 26 depicting rainfall in India wrongly shows a high equatorial pressure belt in the southern hemisphere.

Class 9:

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is shown underwater.

All the maps on page 1 are clumsily drawn and difficult to understand.

A diagram on salinity-levels across the world, mistakenly shows Chinese coastline as having high salinity.