Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, has requested the Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, to respond to an urgent query in Parliament regarding newly-authored history textbooks named “History of Ghana.”
Mr. Ablakwa made the announcement on March 14, 2021.
The book, he says, includes “bigoted publications” aimed at condemning the Ewe ethnic community.
Mr. Ablakwa, on the other hand, called it “offensive, inflammatory, and incendiary.”
Such books, according to the North Tongu legislator, should not be accepted for students.
As a consequence, he requires the Minister to inform the House on the government’s attempts to “purge Ghanaian students against publications.”
“This is to notify all concerned that I have filed an urgent parliamentary question requesting the Minister for Education to appear before the House and respond to the two bigoted publications in the issue.”
“The text of my urgent question is as follows: To ask the Honourable Minister responsible for Education whether the publications titled: History of Ghana, Text Book 3 by Badu Nkansah Publications authored by Badu Nkansah and Nelly Martinson Anim and Golden English Basic 4 authored by Okyere Baafi Alexander both of which contain bigoted content targeted at the Ewe ethnic group have come to his Ministry’s attention; were they approved by any of his Ministry’s agencies and what steps Government is taking to purge our schools and bookshops from offensive, divisive and incendiary publications of this nature?”
Since parts of the textbook have come to light, it has caused some media outrage.
Read Also: Textbooks with offensive Ewe depictions not approved for schools – NaCCA
Mr. Edem Agbana, the opposition National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) Deputy National Youth Organizer, is organising a protest against it.
Badu Nkansah Publications apologies the inconvenience.
Meanwhile, the book’s editor, Badu Nkansah, has apologized to Ghanaians.
While the book met the majority of the technological content standards, NaCCA “ordered us to focus on some elements of the book more in order for it to satisfy the demands of the new curriculum,” according to the business.
“Unfortunately, while undergoing the review, a limited quantity of the unpublished draft found its way into the market. We have seen certain snapshots on social media which has generated justified public uproar due to their offensive tone. Though it is not a deliberate attempt to berate such a huge section of our society, we wish to unreservedly apologise for the slip. Our brand stands for national unity, and we currently employ workers who originate from all parts of the country.”
The company has mentioned that it is looking at how the few copies ended up on the market.
Source: ATLFMNEWSROOM
