Blunder: Geography in Maths book of Bihar schools

PATNA: If you want to study Geography, pick up the Mathematics book. Absurd as it may sound, hundreds of students in Bihar found phrases like duniya gol hai and other geographical concepts in their Maths textbook.

In a shoddy case of binding error, the Maths textbook meant for Class V students for schools under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ended up carrying portions from a Geography book meant for Class VII.

While the blunder was committed by the Bihar State Text Book Publishing Corporation in 2007, state HRD minister Brishen Patel admitted to the "mistake" in the assembly only on Tuesday. He was careful enough to point out that it wasn't a printing error, but a mistake at the stage of binding over which the ministry has no control.

The printer's contract was cancelled and payment stopped for this blooper, and no work will be allotted to the firm in the future, said Patel. A joint panel was also formed to look into the causes of this embarrassing gaffe.

RJD Minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui, who raised a question regarding the errors in the Assembly, also wondered whether there was any mechanism to check the contents and quality of school textbooks. To this, Patel said checking of textbooks was primarily the responsibility of the SCERT.