Gold from trees? Meghalaya seeks correction of textbooks

Do trees yield gold and silver? Does the first aid kit include a spade and a car jack?

The answer to both questions is yes, if textbooks issued by the Meghalaya Board of Secondary Education (MBoSE) are to be believed.

Under pressure from academics, NGOs and parents, Meghalaya’s Department of Education has undertaken an exercise to correct errors in its books. The State’s Education Minister, Lakhmen Rymbui, has directed officials to provide him with copies after marking the errors.

Corrective measures

“Corrective measures will be taken so that students do not suffer. We will look into every aspect of publishing so that error-free textbooks can be provided,” said Mr. Rymbui.

Apart from spelling and grammatical errors, factual mistakes on the culture and tradition of indigenous communities, primarily the Khasis, in the textbooks, had rubbed several organisations the wrong way.

For instance, the Class IX Social Science book says: “The Khasi and Pnars are very good in carving. They have their own style of making gold and silver from the tree.”

The book also refers to legendary Garo freedom fighter Togan Sangma as a Jaintia, and omits Captain Williamson A. Sangma, the first Chief Minister of Meghalaya, from a list of ‘prominent personalities of Meghalaya’.

Similarly, in the Class X textbook on health and physical education, a diagram shows a spade, a flash light, a car jack and other car accessories as part of a first aid kit.

The Class VIII book on Social Science, too, has a few errors. Aiborlang Nongsiej, a Shillong resident, pointed out that a column on the ‘Preamble to the Constitution in India’ has the word ‘brief’ instead of ‘belief’.

Overpricing too

If these were not enough, some schools adhering to the State Board have been accused of selling overpriced textbooks instead of the cheaper ones issued by the MBoSE.

The youth wing of the Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement, a political party, accused a missionary school in the State capital Shillong of making students purchase an environmental education book for ₹225 each.

“The same book issued by the MBoSE costs ₹70,” the youth wing’s president Thomas Passah told reporters.

Mr. Rymbui said the Board would be streamlined after the government appoints an “efficient, full-time” Executive Chairman for the MBoSE.

The Board has not had an Executive Chairman for almost three years now, he said.