Textbook racism to come under review
THE country’s biggest teacher union and the provincial Education Department have come out in support of a review of textbooks used at public schools.
This follows controversial high school textbook content brought to light by the Cape Times.
The content, which analysts say implies to pupils that Western culture is superior, has been published by Pearson SA in Platinum English First Additional Language Grade 9 textbooks.
It’s a story about a young girl who leaves her home in EmaThondwane in rural KwaZulu-Natal to attend a boarding school in Pietermaritzburg.
An extract from the workpiece reads: “My friends at school did not know I was a farm girl. I made up many stories about a rich businessman father and his white lawyer wife, my stepmother. I told them of imaginary mansions in uMhlanga Rocks. I resented the mud houses and grass houses I really came from.”
After reading the comprehension pupils then have to copy words into a table, with two headings: Traditional African experiences, and Modern Western experiences.
The words include: coarse black hair, dieting, mansions and English.
Provincial education spokesperson Paddy Attwell said 53 schools ordered the textbook for this academic year and 51 for next year.
“Our information is that Minister Angie Motshekga has appointed a task team to review content in textbooks listed on the National Catalogue. We support this initiative,” Attwell said.
National Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the department is engaging publishers about content.
“Some of the textbooks that are used in schools do have content that’s offensive. For this reason the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has also launched a review of textbooks to identify content that has discrimination and bias.
“We believe our teachers are able to mediate between offensive content and ensure that learners are aware that such content is undesirable and find a way to teach without promoting prejudices or discrimination in the content,” Mhlanga said.
In 2014, on behalf of the DBE, the Human Sciences Research Council researched discrimination and biases in textbooks used in public schools.
Results revealed the presence of various forms of discrimination in all 40 of the textbooks.
South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) deputy general secretary Nkosana Dolopi said the union also supported the revision by the national Education Department.
“Bantu education taught pupils to disown themselves and we can’t have that happening today. We are behind the (national) Education Department,” Dolopi said. francesca.villette@inl.co.za
@FrancescaJaneV