Kerala’s State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) recently corrected a factual error in a Class 4 teachers’ handbook that stated Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose ‘fled to Germany, fearing the British’ before forming the Indian National Army (INA). The mistake, which misrepresented the freedom fighter’s role, was flagged by teachers soon after the handbook’s release and subsequently rectified by SCERT.The handbook, designed to assist educators in following the state syllabus, originally contained a brief note on Bose’s political journey, including his tenure as Congress president and the founding of the Forward Bloc. However, the incorrect phrase suggesting he fled out of fear was removed following swift feedback from teachers, according to an official statement cited by local media.Error spotted and corrected following teacher feedbackThe SCERT handbook was intended to provide accurate background information and teaching instructions for Class 4 Environmental Studies. Upon receiving the teachers’ feedback, SCERT immediately recalled the handbook and issued a revised version, assuring parents and educators of improved quality control in future publications.An official confirmed to media outlets that an internal inquiry has been launched to determine how the error bypassed the review process. The statement read that “more rigorous quality checks will be enforced going forward to avoid such errors,” as reported by the press.Political reactions and accusations of distorted historyThe controversy attracted sharp criticism from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which accused the CPI(M)-led Kerala government of deliberately spreading distorted historical narratives through textbooks and handbooks. The student organisation claimed the erroneous description of Netaji was “fake propaganda” intended to defame a national hero who sacrificed his life for India’s independence.ABVP National Secretary Shravan B. Raj alleged that portraying Netaji as a coward was a “malicious lie.” He also pointed out other serious errors in the same textbook, such as the omission of Assam and Jharkhand from the map of India, which the ABVP described as part of a larger conspiracy to undermine national unity. Raj stated, as quoted by the media, that the ruling party’s actions were “a calculated attempt by the Communist Party-led Kerala government to manipulate the young generation with fake narratives.“Concerns over educational content and national integrityE.U. Eswaraprasad, ABVP Kerala State Secretary, highlighted that the incident revealed a “poisonous narrative” promoted by the Education Department. He criticised Kerala’s claim of being a model state, calling the error a “heinous act” and “a deliberate ploy” to implant anti-national ideas among students. Eswaraprasad said the ABVP had submitted formal complaints to the state Education Minister and the Director of NCERT, demanding strict action against officials responsible, according to press reports.The ABVP also vowed to launch protests if corrective measures were not implemented promptly. The controversy over the historical error in the SCERT handbook has therefore escalated into a larger debate over the politicisation of academic content and the safeguarding of accurate historical knowledge in school curricula.TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here.
