Who is Maxwell Phillips? It’s a question some parents across the country are asking as they reviewed their children’s social studies book in the first week of school.
The question stems from an error in the Social Studies: My Self, My World, Student’s Book 3 for primary school students, which indicate that in 2010 President “Maxwell Phillips” was present at the military parade in Port-of-Spain saluting soldiers.
In the photo, positioned above the caption, is the image of this country’s fourth president, Maxwell Richards, who held office for ten years from 2003 to 2013.
Images of the error appeared on social media last week, prompting publishers Macmillan Caribbean to respond in an online post, advising that the mistake would be corrected in new editions of the book, to be published in 2018.
“We have recently been alerted to a mistake in one of our books, Social Studies: My Self, My World, Student’s Book 3, where former president George Maxwell Richards was wrongly named as “President Maxwell Phillips”.
“We sincerely apologise for this, and will be correcting the mistake in the new edition of this book, coming out in 2018. We try to ensure accuracy in all of our books, but regret that occasionally mistakes do happen. If you spot any, it would be greatly appreciated if you message or email us directly, so we can correct the error in future editions. Thank you,” the publishers wrote on social media.
Garcia: We have received many complaints about the quality of books
The mistake, according to Education Minister Anthony Garcia, is one of many which have found their way into the education system.
“We (the ministry) have received many complaints about the quality of books and we have a Learning Materials Evaluation Committee that is looking at all materials, reading and learning materials within schools.
“So they would make recommendations on all aspects pertaining to textbooks.”
Why are these mistakes making their way into the backpacks and minds of the nations children, in an area that should see stringent quality assurance practices?
Garcia said while the complaints had come over a period of time, a specific policy implemented by the previous government had contributed to the problem.
“Under the previous regime, principals were allowed the free choice to select whichever textbooks to use in the schools and that contributed to the problems they are having with regards to defective textbooks and learning materials in the school.”
He said the Learning Materials Evaluation Committee was meant to improve the quality.
Garcia advised parents who spot errors to bring it to the attention of the Education Ministry.
