More pages for history book
Education Minister Marietta Giannakou paved the way yesterday for the authors of the controversial primary school history book to counter one of the textbook’s main criticisms by providing more detail about certain events in Greek history. Giannakou said that the authors would be able to add to the book’s 137 pages when they review it over the summer. The minister said the authors had recognized that they needed to make some changes but she ruled out the possibility of third parties having any say in the process. The Church of Greece as well as some historians and journalists have spoken out against the book and called for it to be scrapped, but Giannakou insisted yesterday that this would not happen as the government could not «deviate from existing institutions and rules.» The president of the National Education Council, Professor Thanos Veremis, backed the minister. «I think that some changes are needed but the book should not be withdrawn,» he told Kathimerini.
