The many errors in the manual invite us to ask ourselves the question of the “quality control” exercised by the various organizing authorities. WBE (Wallonia-Brussels Education) “has set up a validation process for the manuals produced by our pedagogical advisers and our trainers according to the new programs and the requests that come back to us from the field. Several proofreadings (administrative, spelling, formal proofreading and substantive proofreading) are thus carried out by a committee bringing together staff members in charge of these matters, but also external experts, to ensure the validation of our productions before distribution.
In the office of the Minister of Education, Caroline Désir, it is explained that the situation differs depending on whether or not the textbook appears in the “Catalogue Manolo” and benefits or not from a subsidy. If so, the publisher of the manual must sign a charter and take responsibility for the content. If there is an error, the publisher may lose its grant and the textbook may be withdrawn from the schools.
If, on the contrary, the educational material is not subsidized, it is then up to the various organizing authorities (like the municipalities here in this case) to check its content. All this does not protect schools from the individual initiative of a teacher who would choose his own documentation and miss out on possible errors.
Fortunately, in some cases, students and teachers can count on the vigilance of parents. In this case, the editor admitted his error and asked Caroline Van Wynsberghe if she agreed to proofread and correct the next edition of the manual on Belgian institutions.