13 - 19 September 2001
Issue No.551
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 13 - 19 September 2001 Issue No.551 |
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Dad in the kitchen?
Women's rights, addiction, the work ethic, child labour, sanitation, national unity, tourism, traffic awareness: what do they all have in common? They are just some of 18 social awareness topics that the Ministry of Education seeks to integrate into primary and preparatory level school books, writes Mariz tadros.The ministry intends to diffuse the topics in bits and pieces across all subjects, from mathematics to science, social studies, Arabic and religion.
The process is by no means simple. It all starts at national conferences, where ideas and suggestions are made, explains Fatheya Mustafa, vice- president of the Centre for Curriculum and Instructional Materials Development. An outline is then formulated by "experts" at the centre, and competition to produce school books is then opened. The winner's books are then reviewed by the centre to ensure that as many of the 18 topics as possible have been treated. The accuracy of the information is then checked, before "experts" at the centre review it again. According to Mustafa, the centre then receives feedback after the books are released. On that basis, they are revised again. "Every year there is a revision of the books. [The centre] gets reports from different echelons in the educational system about them," she says.
And the outcome? A comparison between primary school books used ten years ago and their contemporary counterparts shows a conscious attempt to minimise gender bias. More gender- sensitive language is used, and girls and women are better represented. In a mathematics text book, for example, sums and riddles have female characters as well as male characters.
Traditional images of women in domestic chores have also been modified. The role of women in the history of Egypt has been recognised in some instances; for example, the participation of women in the 1919 revolution is now mentioned in history books for fifth graders.
Another welcome intervention is the introduction of the topic of female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM is now introduced in various subjects and in various grades (in the Islamic religion books for example), and pupils learn that the practice is not of Islamic origin or prescription. In the science curriculum for third preparatory, pupils learn about FGM's harmful physical effects.
Yet, despite a greater dose of information, it is difficult for an adult (let alone a child) to overlook the lacklustre presentation of material. It is unlikely that third preparatory pupils would be intrigued and challenged by the list of UN organisations involved in women's development cited in their social studies book. And as for encouraging pupils to alter their perception of the role and status of women, more creative and subtle approaches than a didactic one may be more effective, experts say.
Hoda El-Sadda, professor of English literature at Cairo University, and head of Women and Memory, an NGO that promotes the reconstruction of gender-conscious historical accounts and legacies, suggests that while positive changes have been made, the essence of the problem is the general approach to education. According to El-Sadda, education is still approached as a process of instilling values of obedience and conformity, rather than of encouraging critical thinking. "It is a positive step to introduce material on issues affecting women, but instead of presenting it in bland sermons, we need to promote active discussion," she suggests.
And as for challenging gender roles in textbooks, "there is no longer this image of Dad going to work, and Mum staying at home to cook, but Dad is yet to be seen in the kitchen," El-Sadda notes.
"Our hands are tied," sighs Mustafa, "there is still a lot of resistance to pushing too much for social change. If we have textbooks with images of Dad in the kitchen, teachers and their supervisors will object, and their negative attitude will pass on to the children," she says. She also contends that while there are programmes for teacher training on the new syllabuses, teachers often don't teach concepts and ideas anathema to their own beliefs. An example? Female genital mutilation.
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