Hulhulmale' Gateway International School has decided to replace the controversial social studies text book, which contained information about other religions, with the book currently being used in the Maldives national curriculum.
Issues had been raised initially when some of the books brought in for some primary grades contained information contradictory with Islamic teachings. Gateway admitted the oversight and has launched an effort to replace them.
The Principal of Gateway International, Mohamed Rasheed told Avas that the mistake with the books had occurred without any knowledge of the content. He said that the books had been supplied to students without a detailed check of the content for which apologized to the parents.
He said the school was working to send the controversial books back to Sri Lanka and to bring in ones with content in line with the Maldivian culture and religious beliefs.
The issue became heated when it was discovered that a chapter in one of the books was dedicated to information about Christianity. The problems were in the books for students between the grades of 1 to 5. Around 250 students will be studying up to the 5th grade in this school.
Rasheed said since these books could no longer be used for studies, they would be temporarily replaced by books from the Maldivian national curriculum. He said that discussions had been conducted on this subject between the school and the education ministry and that the Ministry had assured that the new books would arrive at the school some time on Saturday.
