“Broadcasting an interview with a political figure in one of our textbooks constitutes a real human error for which we regret and for which we fully intend to take responsibility,” commented the publisher requested by Belga.
“This interview is part of a vast and ambitious pedagogical process developed throughout the manual. We thought it relevant to discuss the career of this woman from a diverse background and who is now one of the main political figures in the country. The didactic intention is commendable and in no way has a desire for political propaganda, it directly contravenes the clearly defined rules on political content in schools”, recognizes the publisher.
“It is obvious that this interview has no place in a textbook since it contravenes the constant concern for neutrality that Plantyn takes care to guarantee in all of his works. Its publication highlights a lack of vigilance obvious on the part of the editorial teams in charge of the project. Plantyn will make sure to review its internal editorial control processes so that such an error cannot be repeated in the future”.
Consequently, a revised and corrected version of the manual in question, the Tangram 2 (French course intended for lower secondary education), will be offered “in the coming days” in free access via the Scoodle platform to all schools.
It will then be sent in hard copy to the schools that have acquired the manual.
Pending these modifications, Plantyn invites the teachers concerned “to postpone the treatment of the disputed chapter and to withdraw it from the textbook”.
The presence of this interview with the co-president in a textbook for lower secondary students sparked controversy on Thursday. The Minister of Education had announced earlier in the day the opening of an administrative investigation to verify whether the content of the textbook complied with the legal requirements in the matter.