‘Psychologically damaging' novel Of Mice and Men taken off Welsh GCSE list over racism concerns
23 December 2024, 12:49
The classic American novel of Mice and Men has been cancelled for GCSE students in Wales amid concerns about racism.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The text was branded “psychologically and emotionally” harmful and was removed as an option by the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC).
The WJEC exam board said it had selected “a wide range” of “appropriate and inclusive texts” for students.
Wales’s children’s commissioner Rocío Cifuentes argued that discussions about the text in classrooms had been “psychologically and emotionally” harmful to black children.
Ms Cifuentes said she welcomed “opportunities for positive, constructive, informed discussions on race and racism”.
Read more: King to deliver royal Christmas message from former hospital in break from tradition
“It’s not censorship. This is safeguarding the wellbeing of children who have told us how awful those discussions have made them feel in those classrooms,” she added.
The book was dropped from GCSEs in England in 2014 by Michael Gove who at the time said he wanted more works by British authors to be studied.
WJEC said it had employed an anti-racism consultant over appropriate books and the decision was taken to “help us ensure our qualifications reflect a modern and inclusive Wales.”
But one Welsh teacher told the BBC the book “would be missed” as it allowed discussion of “how we treat each other in general in our societies”.
