Rewriting history

An article in today's paper. Ever since I have been in Rwandan there has not been a single History textbook in any of the schools. And in the secondary schools their history books were all recalled to the District Office to be destroyed. Why? The reason is that History here is an intensely political affair, and the nuances of interpretation of Rwanda's post-colonial history are a minefield for a foreigner such as myself. These new books will be the "authorised version" and will be compulsory for all schools inn the country. What worries me (and others) is the potential airbrushing of so many aspects of recent history to suit the current political orthodoxy.

The National Curriculum Development Centre [NCDC], will soon release revised editions of Rwanda’s history books to replace the current ones.

Charles Gahima, the Executive Secretary of NCDC, said that the present history books in the school curriculum were not factual.

Gahima, explained that since 1997, numerous meetings have been held with academics and consultants, who are well versed with Rwanda’s history, to update the current history lessons being taught in schools.

“We had a lot of meetings to agree and also referred to the present history books. We also consulted and had to involve some of the national academics,” he said.

The ‘1954 Rwandan revolution’ is one of the contentious subjects that was revised.

“You can’t call it [1954 Rwandan revolution] when some people were thrown out of the country,” Gahima said.

He added that the new history syllabus contains the causes of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi (N.B. this phrase "against the Tutsi" which is the current interpretation. The fact that thousands of Hutus were also killed in the genocide, and enormous numbers killed by Tutsis in the reprisals during the chaotic aftermath of the genocide, is being wiped from history. All Hutus seem to be being cast as perpetrators, and by implication all Tutsis as innocent victims).

Gahima stressed that in the revisions made, all information is based on facts.

“We are saying that the new history lessons should be based on facts,” he said.

Jeanne Baranyizigiye, the curriculum designer said they had finished the syllabuses for primary and secondary schools.

All information may well be based on facts, but who selects the facts and which facts are chosen for inclusion?