Ex-SCERT head held over errors in textbooks
Odisha’s Crime Branch arrested the former director of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) over alleged errors in school textbooks for Classes 1 to 8.
AI generated- Odisha Crime Branch arrested the former director of SCERT in connection with alleged errors in school textbooks.
- SCERT is the state-level institution involved in textbook development and academic coordination.
- Manoj Kumar Padhy was the senior Odisha Administrative Service officer arrested in the case.
- The case concerns textbooks for Classes 1 to 8.
Odisha’s Crime Branch has arrested the former director of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in a case involving alleged errors in school textbooks for Classes 1 to 8. The case is important for UPSC because it connects school education governance with administrative accountability and quality assurance in curriculum material.
The investigating agency alleges that senior Odisha Administrative Service officer Manoj Kumar Padhy, during his tenure as SCERT director, had overall supervision, coordination, monitoring and approval authority over the textbook development process under the National Education Policy 2020.
According to the Crime Branch, he approved and forwarded print-ready manuscripts without adequate verification of content. The allegations cover purported factual, scientific, geographical and pictorial errors in the textbooks, and the agency has framed the matter as criminal negligence. The case remains under investigation.
UPSC can link this case to the quality-control chain in school textbook preparation, the role of SCERTs under education reforms, and accountability in public administration when official approval mechanisms fail.
