Textbook Goof-up Embarrasses Telangana Congress Government

A blunder involving Telugu textbooks has embarrassed the Telangana Congress government, as books with a foreword by previous Chief Minister KCR were distributed to students. Officials are now proposing to cover the old foreword. The Telangana State United Teachers Federation demands an inquiry and action against responsible officials.

In a significant slip-up, Telugu textbooks featuring last year's foreword by former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao were mistakenly distributed this year in Telangana, leading to considerable embarrassment for the state’s Congress government.

Textbooks for classes 1 to 10 were handed out to students in state-run schools when they reopened on June 12 after the summer vacation, bearing the outdated introduction. Sources on Friday indicated officials initially called for the textbooks' return but are now advising that the foreword page be obscured by pasting it on the backside of the inner cover page to hide references to the previous administration.

A senior official from the Education department noted on Thursday that a specific textbook was withheld from distribution pending necessary corrections, but details were not provided.

The Telangana State United Teachers Federation on Friday urged the state government to initiate an inquiry and take disciplinary action against the officials responsible for this oversight. The Federation's General Secretary, Chava Ravi, accused the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) officials of negligence.

Ravi also highlighted a past incident where a school textbook erroneously published the Preamble of the Constitution without the words 'socialist' and 'secular.' Opposition BRS has criticized the Congress government for allegedly retracting textbooks meant for government school students because they included references to KCR.

BRS MLA and former Education Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy questioned whether it was appropriate to withdraw or alter the textbooks merely due to the presence of KCR’s name.