Egyptian school curriculum gets rid of anti-Semitism
05/24/2023
The Egyptian school curriculum has largely eliminated anti-Semitic stereotypes, and new teaching materials promote tolerance in Egyptian society and teach "the peaceful coexistence of Islam and Judaism." This is the conclusion reached by researchers from the Institute for Monitoring Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), after analyzing Egyptian school textbooks.
The changes came as the Egyptian Ministry of Education implemented the 12-year Education 2.0 Plan, launched in 2018 and aimed at modernizing the curriculum in line with international standards. According to Impact-se, the plan has already updated all textbooks for grades 1-5, which spell out "common values shared by monotheistic religions in Egyptian society." Any manifestations of anti-Semitism are completely excluded from the updated textbooks.
“Egypt has the largest education system in the Middle East and North Africa with 25 million children in schools, so the process of removing anti-Semitism and other manifestations of hatred from school textbooks is a significant contribution to the development of a tolerant Egyptian society and region,” commented the CEO. Impact-se Markus Scheff.
True, high school materials still describe Israel as an "illegal", "colonial" or "Zionist entity", are not shown on geographic maps, and the idea of "liberating Palestine" is presented as an "Islamic duty". These textbooks have yet to undergo editing, but the researchers are confident that Egypt will repeat the progress made in this matter by a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa: Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and others.