A Class 8 science textbook published by the Tamil Nadu government may well inculcate the idea in students that they are to blame if they face sexual abuse.
In a chapter titled, “Reaching the age of adolescence,” the textbook prescribes an advisory that lists the steps to be taken for primary prevention of child sexual abuse. In the advisory, students are asked not to wear provocative dresses.
Apart from cautioning against provocative dressing, the advisory also asks children to be mindful of the way they sit and to keep a distance from the opposite sex while going to school by auto, bus or by train.
“While they certainly need to be given information and be made aware, it is sad to see such misinformation which would give children wrong ideas. Speaking about their clothing or where to sit sends out an extremely regressive message and has completely shifted away the focus of primary prevention, which is to talk to and sensitize young boys and men,” said Vidya Reddy of Tulir. She said that the topics featured in this section were inappropriate for young people and had to be articulated in a different way which was more suitable and effective for them.
She said by stressing on clothing, it is assumed that only young women get abused, which is far from the truth.
‘Undoing the truth’
The textbook has been published under the uniform system of school education scheme in the trimester pattern and can also be found online at a website hosted by the State government.
The website has books for all classes from 1 to 12 in different languages, as well as some audio books.
Kirthi Jayakumar, founder, Red Elephant Foundation, said by telling the children that “provocative” dressing attracts abuse, a sense is being created in the child that if an incident happens, they will be faulted, and this may lead to abused children not speaking out.
“We've heard enough and more about how wrong it is to tell our girls not to get raped, and how we should tell our sons not to rape. What the textbook does is to undo the truth, and, to reassert a culture of shame and stigma,” she added.
A senior official said that appropriate changes to the content would be considered when the new textbooks are printed.
In the draft revised syllabus which has been uploaded by the State Council of Educational Research and Training(SCERT) Tamil Nadu online, the class 8 science syllabus has mentioned topics related to adolescence under the broad context of health and hygiene. The revised syllabus, new textbooks will be introduced in State board schools in 2020-21. For the upcoming 2018-19 academic year, the revised syllabus and new textbooks for classes 1,6,9 and 11 is set to be implemented in schools across the state.
