Online Desk: The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has decided to remove Israel’s name from ninth-grade history and social science textbooks.

The curriculum apex body acknowledged that it had made a mistake and took the decision amid a controversy over including Israel as a country without mentioning Palestine.

The NCTB has also formed a committee to identify the person responsible for the mistake among the writers panel. Additionally, it will add a new chapter to properly introduce the history of Palestine.

According to the NCTB, the history and social science textbook has 12 writers and two editors. The textbook credits list Prof Abul Momen and Prof Aksadul Alam as editors. Furthermore, Mian Md Naushaad Kabir, Ahmed Karim Hasnain, Abdullah Al-Mamun, Fatema Zohra Haque, and Abul Momen are credited as translators.

Abul Momen, Prof Aksadul Alam, Prof SC Majumder, Prof Atikur Rahaman, Dr Masud-all-Kamal, Jarin Akther, Dr Mir Abu Saleh Shamsuddin, Muhommod Nijam, Siddique Belal, Uma Bhattacharjee, and Shaikh Md Enamul Kabir are credited as writers.

In a conversation with Dhaka Tribune, members of the writer panel acknowledged their mistake and expressed their intention to rectify it. They stated that they would recommend a separate chapter on Palestine so that students can learn its history accurately.

NCTB Chairman Prof Farhadul Islam told Dhaka Tribune that the board would take strict action against those responsible and rectify the errors soon.

The two editors of the book stated that they received proper maps during revisions, but they were unaware of the mistake after the book was printed.

Writer Abul Momen, who was responsible for the page, acknowledges it was a significant mistake but pinned the blame on the book illustrator. However, according to the rules, book illustrators work on the basis of a brief from a publisher or author to create images accompanying a story or text.

Last year, there was controversy about some errors in the history and social science textbooks for grades six and seven. Abul Momen was among the writers of the book. He mentioned there was a shortage of time, which led to the books not being well-edited. Those who wrote also did not have time to check due to time constraints.

A member of the NCTB, speaking anonymously, mentioned that while the maps issue was being blamed on others (illustrators), the writer from the panel who had done the job knows what happened. He pointed out discrepancies such as the country Gambia being marked in the textbook instead of Gaza.

Criticism mainly arose through social media about the inaccuracies in the book.

Amid criticism, NCTB Chairman Prof. Farhad Islam stated the pages would be corrected and distributed to all educational institutions.

Last year, the NCTB corrected over 400 mistakes in the textbooks of grades six and seven under the new curriculum and also addressed plagiarism issues in the same grade.