The Odisha Government urged the Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) to republish the Odia syllabus for JHTET 2026 in the Odia script instead of Devanagari.
Commissioner-cum-Secretary Smt. Rashmita Panda, IAS, issued an official letter to the JAC Secretary after receiving a representation from Shri Nandu Kumar Pandey of Saraikela Kharsawan district. Pandey raised concerns that the Odia syllabus for the Jharkhand Teacher Eligibility Test (JHTET) had been published in Devanagari script, ignoring the distinct Odia script.
The letter emphasised that Odia is one of India’s 22 scheduled languages recognised in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and holds Classical Language status. The Odisha Government stated that publishing the syllabus in the Devanagari script undermines the linguistic identity of Odia-speaking minorities in Jharkhand.
The department requested JAC to republish the syllabus in Odia script and ensure that prose and poetry passages totalling 20 marks are included in the Odia subject. It also asked for model question papers to be issued in Odia script.
