UAE Schools Withdraws Text Books

Dubai, UAE: A controversial student textbook used as part of a private school’s curriculum has been withdrawn after parents complained that it portrays Palestinians as “terrorists”. The Ministry of Education and the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) withdrew the book KS3 History — Technology, War and Independence by Aaron Wilkes from all branches of The International School of Choueifat across the UAE, after the book’s content was found to be contrary to the UAE society’s fundamentals and values. The history book was not approved by the ministry before it was included in the school’s curriculum, the ministry said. The school confirmed that the book was used in social studies and history classes for grade nine students and was printed by Oxford University Press. Shaikha Khulood Al Qasimi, Assistant Undersecretary for the inspection division at the ministry, said an investigation into the matter has been launched to understand why the history book was being taught, noting that the book was never approved and using it was a violation of the law. “An inspection team from the ministry was sent out to look into the matter, and upon finding out that the content of the book goes against the Islamic and national fundamentals, an order was issued to stop the book from being taught to students. The school’s administration is currently being questioned,” she was quoted as saying in Arabic media. The school can face fines up to Dh50,000 for using books that contain such errors or haven’t been approved by the ministry. In a statement to Gulf News, The International School of Choueifat said the book did not represent their opinion in any way. “The grade 9 History book, KS3 — Technology, War and Independence, printed by Oxford University Press, does not contain the words or thoughts of our school or staff, and ultimately it does not reflect our opinions on world matters. It was a human error to overlook some of the book’s contents. We have henceforth withdrawn the book from our curriculum,” said Hisham Hassan, the school director. Al Qasimi explained that the ministry follows a strict procedure that looks into the curriculums being used by private schools and does not allow the use of books that haven’t been checked by the relevant committee. The ministry has previously rejected books that were going to be used in private schools after they were checked for content and were believed to have ‘errors’. “Books with such errors make their way into the school curriculums when schools do not send the books for approval or when using newer editions of the textbook that were not checked by the ministry. A picture of the textbook sent by the school showed that it was a new edition,” said Al Qasimi. Hamad Al Dhaheri of Adec said the regulator withdrew the books and formed a team to determine what steps the school has taken to avoid a repeat of the incident. Parents had raised concerns about the book, which they said contains historical errors and claims that Palestinians are practising terrorism in the Middle East. © Gulf News

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