asked the Minister for Education the plans or proposals, if any, he has for the removal of sexism from school books; and, if so, if he will give details.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Sexism in School Books.
14.
Guidelines in relation to a suitable reading programme for national schools were issued to publishers in 1978. A list of books sanctioned by my Department for use in national schools is published for each school year. No book which does not appear on this list may be used for secular instruction without the sanction of the Minister for Education.
As far as second-level schools are concerned, the choice of the text-books to be used is a matter for the schools themselves, with the exception of the literary works which are prescribed for study in the case of the language subjects by the Minister for Education.
May I take it that the answer is that there are absolutely no plans for the removal of sexism from the main school books? Is the Minister not aware that quite out of date and old definitions of women occur in the very commonly used textbooks sanctioned by his Department? Since 1977 we have seen quite a change in our society. Is there any intention to consider this matter and possibly issue some direction that would lead to improvement in this area in the guidelines?
At the national school level books are sanctioned or approved by my Department. As the Deputy is aware, there are as many female as male teachers involved both in the preparation of school material and its usage and no cases of any undue emphasis on male or female roles have been drawn to my attention. If the Deputy has any material or is aware of material she regards as unsuitable or biased I should be glad to have it examined. In the case of post-primary schools I have really no direct function in the matter other than in respect of textbooks relating to language subjects.
Is the Minister not aware that the average Irish text book commonly starts off with "Tá Maimí sa chistin agus tá Máire ag cabhrú léi" or something like that? Or young Seán is out in the garden looking after Daddy. Is the Minister aware that the activities allowed Maimí and Máire are very limited? Is he aware that every doctor or politician appearing in the Irish text-books is a man? I do not think that reflects our society at the present time. It is limited to women from an early stage. In view of that would the Minister not give us some hope that the matter will be considered by his Department given that regularly it has come up at INTO meetings and that it is particularly at primary school level that the stereotyping is occurring most extensively?
I take the Deputy's point but I am sure she will appreciate that I am not really in a position to review each textbook myself. As I try to point out in my reply, there are a very large number of female as well as male teachers and authors involved and if there was any biased or unsuitable material in current usage I should have thought somebody would have drawn it to the attention of my Department. Even now, if anybody does so, I shall certainly arrange to have it investigated. As to the general point made, one cannot resist making the comment that perhaps some statements are reasonably accurate descriptions of the facts. It is difficult to know when one is making a statement of fact and when one is making some sort of biased reference.
(Limerick East): Is it not true that in the case of primary schools the Minister's Department actually approve a series and range of textbooks and that some of the textbooks and series that have been approved are certainly sexist in nature and that this has been pointed out by the INTO, by separate teachers, by women's groups and by parents on several occasions to the Department? Would the Minister undertake to review the various series of books approved as readers by his Department over the years and update them and probably remove approval from some that were approved in the past?
I can assure the Deputy that the attention of publishers has also been drawn to this matter so that even in the area of arranging illustrations for books they should try to ensure that a reasonable balance is kept. Perhaps we can arrange to make sure that the captions, as well as the text show both Daidi agus Maimí sa chistin and both Daidí agus Maimí in the pressure cooker of Leinster House.