Greek and other orthodoxies

History: A couple of years back Malini Endagama, Professor of History at Sri Jayewardenepura, wanted to pick my brains about the new History syllabus for secondary schools.

The Academic Affairs Board of the NIE had insisted on more world history than students had been given in earlier years and, as an adviser it seemed to the private publishing company that had won the contract, she and her chief writer needed some assistance.

Apart from requiring much assistance with some of the European factors that had been included, as relevant to the world in general, they had no idea for instance who the Mongols were.

This I hasten to add was not just ignorance, for when I mentioned some names, they remembered things as I had anticipated, and when I talked about the Moghul connection they seemed quite happy about the relevance of something they seemed earlier to have considered a strange aberration.

But it was symptomatic of what seemed to us completely wrong with the way many subjects, and particularly history, were taught. There was just no attempt to connect things, to introduce concepts of chronology and causation, to get students to see links and historical patterns.

Unfortunately, with the change of government at the end of 2005, the NEC ceased to function for some months, and it would seem that its Chairman Prof Suraweera, who did an admirable job the previous year of introducing at least some historical sense into the Grade 7 textbook, was unable to do anything about Grade 8. The NIE steadfastly refused to summon meetings of the Academic Affairs Board, but in any case by then the production of books was totally out of our hands.

It was only last week that I saw a copy of the text that has now been used for a year. Clearly no one has protested, for otherwise it would surely have been withdrawn, given that recently a Buddhism textbook was withdrawn because of some blunders.

Of course it may be deemed that history is less important, and it does not matter if students are fed wrong facts. But even conceptually, it is astonishing that no educationist has worried about the total failure to address educational issues in a text that often reads like a catalogue of tedious and irrelevant facts or fantasies.

The technique, I should add, allows the writers perhaps to claim that they were not wrong, it was simply the students whose essays they incorporate in the text who knew nothing. The chapter on the 'Dark Age of Europe, Spread of Islam and its influence on the world' begins.

Sandupama who read a book titled World History had written down in her notebook some of the information contained in it about the Roman Empire. You too study it. Some of them I hope mythical Sandupama's notes were as follows: Romans who faced various enemy inroads several centuries after and victorians also vanquished the Carthaginians in the South coast of Africa who were powerful and wealthy.

After this battle the Roman Empire emerged and acquired a large area of Europe. Emperors Pompeii, Julius Caesar and Augustus can be mentioned as the powerful rulers of the Roman Empire.

'The reign of Emperor Augustus is considered the Golden Era of the Roman Empire. He was an efficient ruler and contributed a great deal for art. The colosseum Stadium is one of his creations.'

One of those blunders the NEC had corrected the previous year in the Grade 7 book, when it removed the Pope from an account of Roman history. It is possible that students are supposed to check back on what they learnt last year, to supplement and correct this year's diet.

There can be no other explantion for the fact that this time round Christianity is left out completely, except for the 'Greek Orthodox philosophy of Christianity'. Sandupama having been forgotten, the writers declare that 'After the reign of King Augustus the Roman Empire declined gradually. But Kings Diocletian and Constantine were able to overcome this state to a certain extent.'

There is lots then about the division of the empire, after which, with regard to the Eastern Roman Empire, we are told

'The Greek became the official language there and Greek Orthodox philosophy of Christianity became the state religion. King Justinian made an effort to propagate the Christianity and St. Sophia Church in Constantinople was one of his creations.'

The text for further study to which students are referred, at the end of the chapter, is 'World History' by B V Rao, translated by Professor Malini Endagama, and obviously this must have some useful ideas because students are told about the Justinian legal System which 'has influenced the legal Systems in most of the countries of the world today just at it influenced in the past'.

Students are also referred to Prof H T Basnayake's Western Culture, where doubtless they can pick up enough information to do the prescribed exercises, like writing an essay on the 'Eastern Roman Empire' for a magazine, or briefly discussing the 'situation in Europe during the Dark Age.'

Reading all this, I can well understand that university students are so opposed to what was termed the Multiple Book Option, whereby school books were printed by the private sector.

But they should also perhaps consider the manner in which that option was implemented, namely the privileging of state favoured monopolies, rather than the genuine competition which should have reduced costs and improved quality.

Unfortunately it would seem that our bureaucracies are simply incapable now, whether implementation is through government agencies or otherwise, of ensuring the high standards that our students deserve.