ANSAmed
Morocco’s government has ordered the revision of hundreds of state school textbooks to remove what they consider to be discriminatory and intolerant material, particularly images and references of a sexist nature.
Other content to be revised in the 390 textbooks includes comments on people who live in the countryside, which portray them as more ignorant than those who live in the city. Sections in which disabled people are presented as naive and ridiculed for being physically or mentally impaired are also set to be modified. The Education Ministry is carrying out the reform as part of constitutional change in 2011, and has made assurances that it is in line with the rules of Islam.
Text and images found in Moroccan school books often portray family scenes in which mothers are in the kitchen with daughters, preparing lunch, while sons are relaxing on the sofa with fathers, watching television. The girls are usually portrayed in traditional, conservative clothes, while the boys are normally in jeans and trainers.
The decision to remove the images and references began with an order from King Mohammed VI. In February, he ordered the revision of school textbooks “to give greater importance to the values of Islam”. Islamic textbooks are still undergoing a phase of revision. They will be revised in a similar way, said Education Minister Rachid Belmoktar, adding that they need a “total and complete change” which will also have to be monitored by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
