GUWAHATI: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has come under criticism in Assam for an error in its Class 4 mathematics textbook, where an African rhinoceros has been incorrectly shown as the Indian one-horned rhinoceros. The mistake appears in the “Did You Know?” section of the chapter “1,000s Around Us”.
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The textbook page features a two-horned rhino illustration accompanied by a paragraph that describes the greater one-horned rhinoceros found in the foothills of the Himalayas and the floodplains of Assam. However, the image used is that of an African species, which, along with the Sumatran rhino, is one of the few with two horns. The text further claims that rhino horn has medicinal value and attributes population decline to poaching and floods.
The depiction has sparked reactions across Assam from netizens, wildlife experts, and educators. Wildlife biologist Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, chair of the Asian Rhino Specialist Group under the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission, reportedly termed the error “worrying”. He said the name “greater one-horned rhinoceros” should be self-explanatory, adding that the species primarily inhabits Assam’s floodplains.
Talukdar also raised concerns about the mention of medicinal value, warning that such information in school textbooks could send the wrong message to children and indirectly justify poaching. He also pointed out that floods in Assam are an ecological norm essential for the rhino’s habitat, and should not be portrayed as merely destructive.
The issue came to light after social media users flagged the error. “In the recently published NCERT Class 4 Math textbook, an Indian rhino is shown to have two horns. Such mistakes are not acceptable,” wrote one user named Udoy Bhaskar Borah on X.
Meanwhile, Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu responded by instructing the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) to examine the matter. “I have not seen the NCERT textbook. If it is indeed erroneous, the SCERT will inform the NCERT,” he reportedly said.
NCERT is yet to release an official statement regarding the controversy.
