Tyrone Reid, Enterprise Reporter

Questions of competence are once again being raised about the Education Ministry's textbook approval process, as more than three months after learning about errors of fact in one of its recommended workbooks, the ministry has failed to remove the book from the primary school system.

The ministry's apparent inertia has also resulted in a failure to speedily correct the inaccurate information that was passed on to thousands of fifth graders who have used, or might still be using, the book.

"Fortunately, they should be in grade six so we can correct that," said Salomie Evering, acting chief education officer in the Education Ministry.

She added: "I apologise for the delay and it is not the ministry's normal response to such occurrences."

Last year, in a Gleaner exclusive, it was reported that a home management book being used by ninth grade students suggested that homosexual unions may be considered a family type.

The article stirred public outcry and led to a review of the ministry's approved books. Subsequently, another book, which was approved by the ministry, was found that echoed similar sentiments. The ministry denied approving the first book, but ordered that both books be removed from the schools.

Blunders in history

The latest blunders to escape the supposedly probing eyes of the ministry's review panel are centred around Caribbean history and appear in a workbook for fifth graders entitled The New Integrated Approach Social Studies Workbook 5. The authors are Beverley Powell, Audrey Scott and Esmie Taylor. The book was published by Mid-Island Educators, which is based in the parish of Manchester. Efforts to contact Rosemarie Isaacs of Mid-Island Educators were unsuccessful.

According to the workbook, the English came to the Caribbean in the 15th century.

The book also claims that the Chinese came to the region as skilful craftsmen, traders, shopkeepers and business people.

However, Assistant Chief Education Officer Claudette Carter, who is head of the media services unit at the ministry, confirmed that the book contains errors. She told The Gleaner that the officer responsible for history informed her that the English came to the Caribbean in the 17th century. Their first stop was St Kitts in 1624. "So, that's (information in the workbook) incorrect," she said.

Additionally, she pointed out that the Chinese came to the Caribbean as indentured labourers before moving into other areas. "They were indentured servants, initially, working on the estates and when they found they were misled, many of them returned home," she explained.

In a telephone interview, Evering told The Gleaner that the book in question was approved for use during the 2006/2007 academic year. She explained that the workbook is consumable, and that another book that more suits the ministry's curriculum was selected to replace the book for the current school year. However, she could not say if all the books were withdrawn from the schools. Additionally, the ministry's approval of the book is yet to be revoked.

Not aware

Evering, who pointed out that she was not previously aware of the situation until The Gleaner brought it to her attention, said once the errors were verified the ministry would notify the schools and the publishers.

She was at a loss for words as she attempted to explain how the errors went unnoticed. "The truth is, sometimes you comb through with a fine-tooth comb and some things still slip through. It's just one of the unfortunate things that have happened."

"I am sure if we started looking seriously in a number of books we are going to pick up some errors. I am saying the review team did an in-depth review; unfortunately, some things, I don't know how they were overlooked," she said.

The errors, which were missed by the ministry's panel of academics, were picked up by a concerned parent. Dr Lloyd Eubank-Green, who discovered the errors, told The Gleaner that his decision to review his child's book came as a result of a discussion he had with some other concerned parents regarding the "reasons for the increasing breakdown in the family, in particular, and civil society".

"We decided to just look through the books our children were using at school. I chose my child's grade five social studies workbook and, to my horror, found four mistakes on one page. And, these mistakes were extremely damaging to the psyche of the children," Eubank-Green concluded.

Speedy response

Dismayed by the findings, Eubank-Green contacted the ministry and informed them about the errors. "I sent the information to the Ministry of Education on November 2, 2007, and I got a response from the minister by November 8. I was impressed by that."

Eubank-Green said he even photocopied the page with the errors and sent it to an official from the ministry who was handling the matter. He also contends that the book's assertions that the Africans came to the Caribbean as slaves is also incorrect, and that there was an error of omission as the authors failed to mention that the "Africans survived over 300 years of slavery and, as such, are a remarkably resilient people".

In response to Eubank-Green's claim that the Africans were enslaved after coming to the Caribbean, as opposed to coming here as slaves, Carter said that is "a matter of interpretation".