05-12-2005, 07:52 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In US, Indian history 'detoxed'
INDIAWEST[ THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005 10:31:15 AM ]
FAIRFAX, Virginia: A concerted yearlong campaign by Indian American
parents in Virginia's Fairfax County has resulted in a revision of
textbooks on Indian history, ensuring that children will not look at
Indian culture as mere " karma , cows and caste".
Businesswoman Sandhya Kumar, engineer Rakesh Bahadur and dozens of
other Indian American parents launched the campaign to change the way
their history is taught in Fairfax, the nation's 12th-largest school
system, The Washington Post said in a recent report.
Their lobbying prompted school officials to rethink presentations on
India and Hinduism in classrooms and sparked efforts to develop a more
sophisticated and thoughtful curriculum, it added.
Balaji Hebbar, a George Washington University religion professor who
was one of three scholars hired by Fairfax County to review the books
cited by the group of Indian parents, told the Post he and his
colleagues found few factual errors in the older textbooks. But the
lessons boiled down a complex culture to " karma , cows and caste."
"It's as if I were making a picture book of the United States, and I
took pictures of the bad parts of D.C., the run-down parts of New York
City and the smoke stacks of Cleveland, and left out the Golden Gate
Bridge and the Statue of Liberty," Hebbar told the Post. "I would be
telling the truth, but I would only be telling half the truth."
Fairfax County educators reportedly responded admirably to the parents' views.
The parents challenged some facts, but many complaints centered on
emphasis, omission or even nuances in the way the authors presented
Hinduism, the Post said.
In response, the educators first sent a memo telling teachers that
students who selected India as a topic for a project should be guided
away from the textbook...
... and given other material.
Then, last fall, schools put forward for public review a new round of
world history textbooks for fifth, ninth and 10th grades -replacements
for those approved in 1997.
Officials also invited parents and any other interested residents to
offer comments. Bahadur reportedly returned with a long critique and
the signatures of 118 people who supported his views.
"We read them, and we really couldn't fairly respond," said Ann
Monday, assistant superintendent for instructional services. "Quite
frankly, none of us had a depth of knowledge in the field."
So she delayed submitting the books to the school board for approval
and called in the professors as well as history teacher Asheesh Misra
to weigh in on the matter, the Post said.
Misra and the professors did not agree with all of Bahadur's conclusions.
But they recommended that teachers expand their lessons on topics
including Hindu writings; the value system, including the four stages
of life; reincarnation and salvation.
Based on the concerns shared by Fairfax educators, five publishers
have made modest changes in the texts, and the panel of professors has
recommended that the county purchase eight revised books, reject one
and supplement the curriculum with other materials, the report said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/article...244,curpg-2.cms<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
INDIAWEST[ THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2005 10:31:15 AM ]
FAIRFAX, Virginia: A concerted yearlong campaign by Indian American
parents in Virginia's Fairfax County has resulted in a revision of
textbooks on Indian history, ensuring that children will not look at
Indian culture as mere " karma , cows and caste".
Businesswoman Sandhya Kumar, engineer Rakesh Bahadur and dozens of
other Indian American parents launched the campaign to change the way
their history is taught in Fairfax, the nation's 12th-largest school
system, The Washington Post said in a recent report.
Their lobbying prompted school officials to rethink presentations on
India and Hinduism in classrooms and sparked efforts to develop a more
sophisticated and thoughtful curriculum, it added.
Balaji Hebbar, a George Washington University religion professor who
was one of three scholars hired by Fairfax County to review the books
cited by the group of Indian parents, told the Post he and his
colleagues found few factual errors in the older textbooks. But the
lessons boiled down a complex culture to " karma , cows and caste."
"It's as if I were making a picture book of the United States, and I
took pictures of the bad parts of D.C., the run-down parts of New York
City and the smoke stacks of Cleveland, and left out the Golden Gate
Bridge and the Statue of Liberty," Hebbar told the Post. "I would be
telling the truth, but I would only be telling half the truth."
Fairfax County educators reportedly responded admirably to the parents' views.
The parents challenged some facts, but many complaints centered on
emphasis, omission or even nuances in the way the authors presented
Hinduism, the Post said.
In response, the educators first sent a memo telling teachers that
students who selected India as a topic for a project should be guided
away from the textbook...
... and given other material.
Then, last fall, schools put forward for public review a new round of
world history textbooks for fifth, ninth and 10th grades -replacements
for those approved in 1997.
Officials also invited parents and any other interested residents to
offer comments. Bahadur reportedly returned with a long critique and
the signatures of 118 people who supported his views.
"We read them, and we really couldn't fairly respond," said Ann
Monday, assistant superintendent for instructional services. "Quite
frankly, none of us had a depth of knowledge in the field."
So she delayed submitting the books to the school board for approval
and called in the professors as well as history teacher Asheesh Misra
to weigh in on the matter, the Post said.
Misra and the professors did not agree with all of Bahadur's conclusions.
But they recommended that teachers expand their lessons on topics
including Hindu writings; the value system, including the four stages
of life; reincarnation and salvation.
Based on the concerns shared by Fairfax educators, five publishers
have made modest changes in the texts, and the panel of professors has
recommended that the county purchase eight revised books, reject one
and supplement the curriculum with other materials, the report said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/article...244,curpg-2.cms<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->