Web Desk:
According to Saudi Gazette and Chalkbeat, officials of New York City, the largest city in the United States, have announced that public schools would teach Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) heritage starting this fall, with an eye on reducing injustice against the minority group.
The city will have a pilot curriculum for all grade levels at first and introduce it to the whole school system by the fall of 2024.
At a press conference at Tweed Courthouse, the education department’s Manhattan headquarters, Chancellor David Banks said the curriculum “honors all that our Asian American and Pacific Islander students and families contribute daily to our school communities and city.”
“We want each child to be heard and seen for who they are, to feel deep in their bones that they are respected and important,” Banks said.
This new curriculum will cover stories from numerous AAPI figures and a multitude of communities who have left their mark on this country, said Banks.
Banks added one of the ways to combat racism and hate is by teaching and learning about each other’s stories and histories.
“We are a better city, a better people when we know the history of our fellow New Yorkers,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who called the development “historical.”
The city would also work on professional development for teachers to integrate the new curriculum into their broader school lessons as well as new resources and books.
The lessons are part of the city’s roughly $200 million investment in Universal Mosaic, a curriculum under development that aims to provide more culturally representative lessons for the nearly 1 million students in the nation’s largest school system.
