‘Errors will be corrected in future editions’
Special Correspondent
Panaji: The Goa State Council for Education Research and Training (GSCERT) on Tuesday stated that it has prepared 41 textbooks for school students studying from Class I to Class VIII, under the national education policy 2020 guidelines, which will be reviewed through an expert committee for a comprehensive assessment.
The council also maintained that any errors identified in these textbooks will be corrected in their future editions.
Stakeholders had described that these textbooks have been rushed through.
Allegations were made that the textbooks prepared by the GSCERT had less local content – less than 40 per cent – and more content from outside the state especially Maharashtra.
Konkani writers and scholars had also met GSCERT officials and complained that there are several errors in many of the lessons as also grammatical mistakes in a Konkani textbook prepared by the council.
GSCERT director Meghna Shetgaonkar told a press conference that altogether 150 teachers and academicians were collectively involved in compiling age-appropriate content for these textbooks. She added that a review committee would soon be constituted to proofread all 41 textbooks.
Stressing that the council’s primary focus is on the academic interests of students, rather than debates over whether the textbooks reflect a Goan or Maharashtrian perspective, Shetgaonkar said the textbooks currently in circulation will not be withdrawn, and the necessary corrections will instead be incorporated in subsequent editions following the review process.
The GSCERT director acknowledged that mistakes do exist. It was also informed that comparatively limited readymade writings for young children were available from the Goan writers, while it is expected that the local content for students from Class IX to Class XII would be more easily available in a bigger way. The work on preparing these textbooks is in progress in the last past two years.
