The controversial story of “Sharifa’s Story” from the textbook of class seven is set to be replaced with a new story about the Hijra community next year.
This decision has been based on the recommendations of a high-level expert committee formed by the Ministry of Education.
The main purpose of "Sharifa's Story" was to create a sense of social responsibility among the next generation for the betterment of the lives of hijra or gender-diverse individuals. Therefore, a new story about hijras will be included in the textbook instead.
When asked, Prof Md Moshiuzzaman, chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB), said: "Based on the recommendation of the high-level expert committee formed by the Ministry of Education, the story is being removed. However, there is no objection to the positive perspective towards the hijra community that the story aimed to promote. It was not suggested that such a perspective be omitted but that it be addressed through another story. Hence, our learning goal and objective are not being hindered.
“We can include another story instead of 'Sharifa's Story'; the main goal is to achieve learning. There is no prohibition or obstacle to achieving learning. Since there is controversy and objection about this story, it can be replaced by another story addressing the same issue,” he added.
Pointing out that the change is positive, the NCTB chairman said: “If there is a debate on any subject, students will consider it controversial, and their learning might become questionable. If we can get out of this controversy, learning will be more assured."
How it all began
“Sharifa's Story” discusses the experiences and challenges faced by a third gender or "Hijra" individual.
However, the story came under the spotlight when Asif Mahtab, a part-time lecturer at Brac University, objected to the inclusion of the story in the textbook, arguing that "students were being introduced to transgender and homosexual concepts through the story".
A video depicting Asif Mahtab tearing the pages of the textbook which included the story went viral on social media.
On January 23, Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury told reporters that if any inconsistency is found in the story, it will be amended.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Education formed a high-level expert committee. Recently, the committee recommended replacing "Sharifa's Story" with a different story about hijras.
According to the committee's recommendation, the Ministry of Education recently sent a letter to the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) asking it to remove "Sharifa's Story" from the seventh-grade textbook for the upcoming academic year of 2025.
Earlier, there was also a controversy raised by a group regarding the inclusion of evolution in textbooks.
It was falsely propagated that humans were created from monkeys through evolution, although nowhere in the textbook was such a statement mentioned.
However, due to the criticism, the topic of evolution was removed from the textbook. Now, "Sharifa's Story" is being removed as well.