BMC school student points out error in science text book

Mumbai: It took more than five years and a 15-year-old student of a BMC-run school to spot an error in a science textbook.

Gaurav Shukla, class 10 student of Sai Path Mumbai Public School (MPS), brought to the attention of the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research (Balbharati) an error in the Science and Technology Part II textbook – first printed in 2018.

On Thursday, Shukla received a congratulatory email from Balbharati for pointing out the error and informed him that the mistake will be corrected in the textbook’s next edition. On Friday, his school and the civic body felicitated Shukla in its Currey Road office.

A taxi driver’s son from Sewri, Shukla has been attending the same Brihanmumbai Municipal Corportation school since class 1. Talking about how he caught the mistake in the seventh lesson titled, ‘Introduction to Microbiology’, Shukla said, “One day while studying, I noticed that in the chart titled ‘Organic acids used in various commercial products and microbes useful for the same’, only one of the five acids was correctly termed as amino acid.”

He immediately reported the error to Chhaya Shelke, his class teacher, who in turn discussed it with school principal Amardeep Gajbhiye. The boy then sent an email to Balbharati, as advised, pointing out the mistake in the text book.

Gajbhiye said, “When this student pointed out this mistake to me, I initially thought it’s not possible. But seeing the confidence of the student, I advised him to inform Balbharati. Accordingly, he emailed and Balbharati also admitted the mistake. This shows how alert a student can be.”

When Shukla was asked the reason behind his confidence, he said, “I have been studying science passionately from a young age. I have given exams like Homi Bhabha science examination, science Olympiad. So, I thought there was something wrong with it. Then I searched on the internet and I was convinced. So, I contacted the teacher and sent an email to Balbharati in December. I didn’t think I would get a reply but I’m so happy that his letter arrived today.”

Balbharati’s officer on special duty (OSD) for science, Praveen Mohite said, “The mistake pointed out by the student was also accepted by the Board of Studies and a letter has been sent to him. This mistake will be corrected in the next edition.”