Shadow Education Minister Neville Darrell is calling for a definitive textbook tackling Bermuda?s history to be produced and included on the public school syllabus.

Mr. Darrell told there were no ?seminal texts? detailing the Island?s heritage and said the Government needed to ?wrap its mind around a proper textbook?.

The United Bermuda Party MP?s call came as he welcomed proposals included in a new draft document, Charting Our Course: Sustaining Bermuda, on the best way forward for the Island.

The report says more Bermudian culture, identity and history needs to be included on the school curriculum. ?This would not detract from exploring world, American, African or European history or culture,? it says. ?Instead it would provide an excellent opportunity to understand these, since Bermuda?s past is intertwined with all of them.

?Until all Bermudians understand who we are as a people, where we come from and how we?ve gotten to where we are today, we will not be able to move forward collectively.?

Mr. Darrell said: ?I think it?s a positive thing that children see themselves in the educational curriculum. I think it?s a very empowering thing so I really support the teaching of more civics or heritage and history to our children.

Mr. Darrell added that the issue of sustainable development itself should also be on the curriculum. ?The heritage stuff is backward-looking which should have the effect of making children feel good about their culture and how we got where we are.

?But there also needs to be a forward-looking part to this. Children need to understand concepts of recycling and not using up resources. We need to address the issue of rampant consumerism.?

Education Minister Terry Lister announced in February that a teachers? guide to complement the Rosemary Jones? history book, Bermuda: Five Centuries, was almost finished and that a Bermuda Atlas, with information on the Island?s geology, geography and climate, was being produced.

Community Affairs Minister Dale Butler ? who has written a number of books on Bermudian history ? said he believed that the teaching of local culture and history had improved.

?We have had an increase in local book publications, which set the foundation for inclusion in the curriculum,? he said. ?So students are getting a great deal. We had the Smithsonian (Folklife Festival) and also Rosemary Jones? book and, of course, all of mine, so there is much more available for teachers and students.?

The sustainable development plan foresees problems with regard to what should be included on the curriculum and says the Island?s culture and history needs to be put into a ?user-friendly form?.

It adds that adult Bermudians also need to learn more about the past because of the lack of a shared sense or common understanding of the Island?s heritage and their ancestors? role in history.