Some parents and teachers were surprised to turn the pages of the latest edition of the Tangram 2 textbook, a French-language textbook for Belgian secondary school students published by Plantyn, to see two pages of the book dedicated to the co-President of the Ecolo party, Rajae Maouane.
As revealed in a morning editorial on 1 September by Belgian TV station LN24, the children’s textbook features a two-page spread interview with Maouane, which is intended to serve as the basis of a reading comprehension exercise.
The inclusion of the interview has been poorly received in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, with Minister of Education, Caroline Désir, demanding that an investigation be launched to explore the legality of the inclusion of an elected official in learning materials.
“Based on the information that we have at this stage, the situation clearly deserves an in-depth investigation,” the minister said in a press release.
The regional administration has now been instructed to “analyse the textbook in order to verify its compatibility with the charter to which publishers are subject, as well as with the principals of the law on the school pact, which prohibits any political propaganda at school.”
Maouane indignant
The Ecolo co-President has already responded to the affair on Twitter, stating that she was fully aware that the interview would end up in a school textbook.
“If this investigation shows that the legislation is not respected, a procedure for the withdrawal of the approval for the manual will be initiated,” the minister warned.
dans lequel il y aurait une séquence intitulée "Sois Belge une fois". Par contre, j'ignorais tout des autres personnalités interviewées. C'est un honneur pour moi d'être interrogée dans ce cadre-là, comme ont pu l'être d'autres politiques avant moi.
— Rajae Maouane 🌎🌻 (@RajaeMaouane) September 1, 2022
“I received a request for an interview on my background, my interest and my political priorities…I knew that this request was part of a textbook writing project,” Maouane stated.
The Ecolo politician defends her actions, stating that she was “not responsible for the editorial choice of the editors and publishers”, also claiming she respected their editorial freedom.
Far from denying that she was aware of the inclusion of the interview, the minister has defended its presence in the textbook.
“It is important for me to show young people that politics can also be their domain, and also of women. Creating inspiration to strengthen democracy is important to me, so that the political class is as representative as possible of the population,” she continued.
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Maouane’s response has angered some users online, who have accused the minister of admitting to spreading party propaganda in school textbooks.
Pierre-Yves Jeholet, Minister-President of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and member of the Mouvement Réformateur (MR) party has reacted strongly to the affair, stating that “political propaganda” had no place in Belgian schools.
Un éditeur qui diffuse de la propagande politique dans les manuels scolaires n’a pas sa place dans les écoles. Et avoir accepté cette interview est au mieux une maladresse, au pire une faute. https://t.co/rR8gH0MY7L
— Pierre-Yves Jeholet (@PYJeholet) September 1, 2022
“A publisher who disseminates political propaganda in textbooks has no place in schools. And having accepted this interview is at best clumsiness, at worst a mistake,” Jeholet said.
