HC directs NCERT to look into ‘errors’ in biology textbooks

CHANDIGARHBASED TUTOR FOR MEDICAL ASPIRANTS HAS MOVED COURT OVER SEVERAL ‘ERRORS’ IN NCERT’S BIOLOGY BOOKS FOR CLASS 11 AND 12

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to take an appropriate decision on the representations submitted by a Chandigarh-based tutor for medical aspirants pertaining to several errors in the NCERT’s biology textbooks for Class 11 and 12.

Petitioner Arvind Goyal claimed that he had submitted two petitions before NCERT headquarters in Delhi — one in May this year and other in November — for the rectification of 17 errors he detected in biology textbooks, but no response was received from the council.

On his public interest litigation (PIL), the double bench of the high court on December 4 directed NCERT to give an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner within a period of six weeks from the date of receipt of the certified copy of the order and take a decision thereafter. This was not the first PIL filed by the petitioner with regard to the errors in NCERT biology books.

Taking up the issue since 2012, he first moved a PIL in 2014 and since then NCERT had rectified over 113 mistakes in the biology exemplar and text books.

He said he moved PIL for the benefit of the medical aspirants who follow these books like scriptures for the preparation of medical entrance examination.

“This is also important for improvement in their academic studies and overall understanding of the concept building,” he said.

Some of the errors, he said, are quite apparent. For instance in page number 109 of Class 11 biology book, the labelling of subneural vessel in earthworm is wrong. The vessel that been labelled as subneural vessel is actually ventral vessel.