17, 000 books withdrawn from public schools over typing error

Manama : Education Ministry recently withdrew 17,000 books from public schools over a typo that resurrected a historic dispute over the name of the Gulf.

The English language books for the third grade, recalled by the ministry, wrongly mentioned the ‘Arabian Gulf’ as the ‘Persian Gulf’ in one of the maps.

Embarrassed by the mistake, which drew criticism from netizens all over Bahrain and the GCC, the Ministry’s Public Relations and Information Director Dr Fawaz Al Shurooqi issued a statement yesterday clarifying that the mistake was the responsibility of a foreign company in charge of printing.

The mistake, Dr Al Shurooqi said, was caused by the agency which used a different map instead of the map supplied by the Ministry. 

“The competent authorities in the ministry handed over appropriate materials and maps for inclusion in the book, including a map of the Arabian Gulf.

“But when the books were printed, the company used a map with the phrase the Persian Gulf written on it in a tiny font. 

“The difference was noticed while distributing the books to students and the ministry has taken necessary measures in this regard,” confirmed Dr Al Shurooqi. 

“The company has offered its apology for the error and its representative visited the ministry and personally offered an apology. The ministry charged it with the cost of reprinting 17,000 copies of the book after correcting the mistake. The new books were already distributed to schools,” the official added.