An update to a story we’ve been following for over a week.

There’s been a mandatory recall issued for a grade 6 textbook that contained false anti-Israel propaganda. The books accused Israel of using child soldiers and forcing them to fight – an outright lie.

800 elementary schools in Ontario have been using copies of this textbook for the past three years – and B’nai Brith has been ardently campaigning to have them corrected – before students return to school in September.

The publisher, Nelson, acknowledged the error – but the Ministry of Education left it up to schools to decide whether to request a replacement sticker  – to cover up the false information. Now there are guarantees that this will happen in every single school that has the books.

Marty York of B’nai Brith says unsold textbooks still in stock will be gotten rid of – and Nelson will make sure that books with the offending information will have it covered up by replacement sticker pages.  The publisher plans to make sure those pages are used – by going to each school and making absolutely sure that the schools are following this regulation.

There’s still no explanation of how the information passed through multiple layers of vetting – including a Ministry of Education committee.

 

Libby Znaimer | VP News & Information / Producer / Host / Columnist