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Schools history guide attacked for denigrating Winston Churchill
Last updated at 23:07pm on 26.12.06
Sir Winston Churchill: Historians accused curriculum chiefs of adopting an 'anti-British' stance
History lessons for 13-year-olds blacken the name of Winston Churchill and promote the Kama Sutra, it is claimed.
Leading historians accused curriculum chiefs of adopting an "anti-British" stance and misquoting the revered former Prime Minister.
They said new teaching packs on the British Empire were grossly unsuitable for their intended audience of 13 and 14-year-olds since they directed pupils to a sexually-explicit internet edition of the Kama Sutra.
They claimed the link, and a separate reference to tantric sex, was being included to meet misguided and politically-correct doctrines to teach history from different perspectives including "gender and sexuality".
The new lessons, unveiled by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, are intended to give secondary school pupils an insight into the influence of British rule on the Indian subcontinent.
But the History Curriculum Association pressure group said a laudable attempt to teach pupils more about the British Empire had seriously backfired.
Director Chris McGovern said the lessons had an "anti-British" tone and focused mainly on the negative consequences of imperial rule without highlighting positive contributions such as the English language, many laws and cricket.
He added that schools would have to squeeze time spent on the two world wars in order to accommodate the new course, which uses up to 15 hours of out 20 available for covering the entire world history of the 20th century.
Meanwhile remarks by Churchill had been doctored to present him in a poor light while other more sympathetic comments had been left out, he claimed.
In his only mention in the teaching packs, Churchill is presented as disparaging Mahatma Gandhi, the spiritual leader and campaigner for Indian independence.
"Churchill's view of Gandhi as a 'half-naked fakir' can be contrasted with the popular acclaim Gandhi received when residing in the East End of London...." the classroom materials say.
Yet Churchill's actual words in 1931 were less derogatory of Gandhi, said Mr McGovern. He actually said that Gandhi was "posing as a fakir", "fakir" being a term for a holy man who performs magic, sometime used in a derogatory manner to allude snake charmers and men lying on beds of nails.
Meanwhile Churchill's strident condemnation of the worst excesses of British rule, notably the massacre of unarmed civilians at Amritsar in 1919, have been omitted from the guidance, he said.
This left pupils with a partial view of the politician who went onto become Britain's renowned Second World War leader, said Mr McGovern, whose association campaigns for fair treatment of British history in schools.
"To misquote Churchill is anti-history" he said. "The whole thing about being a historian is that you should be accurate with quotes and sources.
"The effect of the change is to make Churchill more antipathetic to Gandhi than the evidence suggests.
"It should be balanced by something to suggest that even Churchill was someone who condemned the massacre at Amritsar.
"The general tone of the unit is anti-British, with little about positive consequences of imperial rule."
The 13-page document asks pupils to consider "how the British profited from their Indian empire" and "the relative importance of the various benefits Britain experienced as a result of their Indian empire".
Elsewhere, it includes a list of internet resources providing "factual information for pupils and/or teachers".
On one site, a click takes users to an online version of the Kama Sutra, the famous ancient Indian writings on sexual behaviour, while another link covers "tantricism" - described as "the 'short path' to Enlightenment in Hinduism and Buddhism".
"Sexual ecstasy was a particularly important feature," the site says.
Mr McGovern, who is head of a London prep school, said: "Although it seems extreme, it is well within the legal requirement to teach history through a gender perspective.
"They say 'be cautious' but nevertheless, it is there, only one click away.
"This is not suitable for 14-year-olds studying 20th century history."
The QCA said that the unit, which is for guidance and is not compulsory, warned teachers to check the internet resources before using them in class because some sites "may contain materials that could cause offence".
A spokeswoman said: "There is a health warning. We would always encourage teachers to check any resources before they use them in class.
"The unit that we have published does not mention the Kama Sutra or any other sexual matters. It looks at the history of India."
She also rejected claims the history unit was biased against Britain.
"It does not denigrate any historical figures," she said.
