Turkey: Government Replaces Human Reproduction Images in School Textbooks With Pictures of Dolphins

Pictures of animals such as dolphins are now been used to replace images of human genitalia in school textbooks(Ste Elmore/Flickr)

Pictures of human genitalia explaining the biological process of reproduction have been replaced with images of animals such as dolphins and ducklings in textbooks for primary school pupils in Turkey.

The replacement of the pictures sparked criticism, with many arguing the Islamist government is trying to promote conservative values, local Harriet Daily reported.

The move was also seen by some as a form of censorship applied by Turkish leaders.

Abdullah Tunal, a psychology expert who chaired the zmir branch of the teachers' union Eitim Sen, compared the 2014's textbooks with those used last year, and showed that the images in a chapter titled "Reproduction, Growth and Development in Living Beings" had been changed.

"In the past, the inner structure of genitalia was explained to children in appropriate ways for their development, just like heart and kidneys were pictured. But the sixth grade science and technology textbook has been seriously censored this year," Tunal said.

He added that the same section is now being taught "shortly, superficially and in a slapdash manner.

"We think the introductory information about a subject that is covered in more detail in the eighth class is not being taught healthily, as it has been censored.

"If scientific information is not taught at schools, a child's development can be harmed."

Censorship in Turkey

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Turkey: Government Replaces Human Reproduction Images in School Textbooks With Pictures of Dolphins