‘It is unacceptable that the sole Social and Political Education textbook available to third-year lower-secondary students reproduces gender stereotypes. The book must be withdrawn immediately, and the assessment and approval process must be reviewed,’ the party said in a statement.
ELAS’s education department said the only textbook available for the subject ‘does not hesitate to reproduce gender stereotypes and offer anachronistic, sexist advice’.
According to the party, the book categorises girls and boys according to physical strength and shifts responsibility on to victims, stating that ‘they should remember that men have greater size and strength, and women should avoid mischief’.
The education department’s full statement follows:
‘Unacceptable: the sole Social and Political Education textbook for third-year lower-secondary students reproduces gender stereotypes
‘The book must be withdrawn immediately, and the assessment and approval process must be reviewed.
‘This is yet another blow to the heavily promoted multiple-textbook reform. Not only has the promised range of textbooks failed to materialise, with an average of just 1.24 options per subject, but the reform is also proving profoundly regressive and problematic.
‘The sole Social and Political Education textbook available to third-year lower-secondary students does not hesitate to reproduce gender stereotypes and offer anachronistic, sexist advice.
‘It categorises girls and boys according to physical strength and shifts responsibility on to victims, stating that “they should remember that men have greater size and strength, and women should avoid mischief”.
‘It reproduces stereotypes about gendered social roles and the division of labour. The book states that “men learn to undertake heavy and technical work and deal with matters outside the home. Women learn to raise children and manage the household in general”.
‘It ignores contemporary forms of social and family organisation, including single-parent families and the right of same-sex couples to marry.
‘For these reasons, it is inconceivable that this book was approved as the sole textbook for Social and Political Education in the third year of lower-secondary school. We ask whether these positions and views formed part of the specifications given to its authors.
‘The Ministry of Education has turned a deaf ear, failing to respond to numerous press reports and questions submitted through parliamentary scrutiny.
‘All this is taking place against the backdrop of repeated and systematic sexist statements by members of New Democracy’s parliamentary group, both inside and outside parliament.
‘ELAS calls for the book’s immediate withdrawal and its replacement with a new textbook whose content is consistent with the principles of gender equality and democracy.’
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