Biblical Values and Confederates Promoted in Texas Textbook Revisions
THE TELEGRAPH: American students will learn more about the virtues of free enterprise, Biblical values and the Confederacy's cause, and less about slavery and civil rights in a controversial new curriculum being pushed through by the Texas school board.

Members of the state's board of education put the finishing touches on Friday to a new history and social studies curriculum for the state's 4.8 million state school students.

The proposed programme, which will affect other parts of the US due to Texas's large share of the school textbook market, has prompted months of fierce argument and protests outside the board's headquarters in Austin.

Conservatives, who constitute a two-thirds majority on the 15-strong board, which is composed of non-education specialists, say the new curriculum will be more positive about America, particularly the South, and its history. >>> Tom Leonard in New York | Friday, May 21, 2010

UK Foundation to Distribute Textbook that Lauds Muslim World's Scientific and Cultural Heritage
THE JERUSALEM POST: An educational foundation in the UK has announced plans to distribute to high schools a free book that highlights the scientific and cultural legacies of Muslim civilization.

1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World is the creation of the Foundation for Science Technology and Civilization (FSTC), a Manchester-based organization set up to raise awareness of the contributions of the Muslim world to modern civilization.

FSTC said the contribution that Muslim and other civilizations have made to the modern world has been widely overlooked and that its team of academics has focused on debunking the myth of the so-called "Dark Ages of Civilization."

"The period between the 7th and 17th centuries - which has been erroneously labeled 'the Dark Ages' - was in fact a time of exceptional scientific and cultural advancement in China, India and the Arab world," Prof. Salim Al-Hassani, chief editor of the book, said.

"This is the period in history that gave us the first manned flight, huge advances in engineering, the development of robotics and the foundations of modern mathematics, chemistry and physics."

The foundation said it hoped to distribute 3,000 copies of the book to UK schools by October and is seeking public support for the campaign through a sponsorship scheme. >>> Jonny Paul, JPost Correspondent in London | Thursday, September 03, 2009