ethnic groups in Bermuda, will be taught in secondary schools by 1996.

Senior Education Officer, Dr. Joseph Christopher said the revised history curriculum will cover countries of east and west Africa as well as northern and southern Europe.

His comments came following criticism by the National Association for Reconciliation spokeswoman, Dr. Eva Hodgson, that Government is doing nothing to heighten awareness of African history in schools.

Dr. Christopher admitted the current history programme is "not as good as it could be. Until now it has been weighted more towards northern Europe and the Caribbean.'' "Our objective is to provide a system of education that the whole community will actively support and appreciate,'' he said. "We want to make sure that we provide fairly for everyone. We want to increase the emphasis on history which would include the various ethnic groups that are in Bermuda.'' The proposal to broaden the history curriculum to include Africa and southern Europe was made in March this year. Material from UNESCO and US publications will be collated to produce a revised history curriculum which will be implemented in all secondary schools by September 1996.

Eventually, Dr. Christopher says he hopes to extend the programme to the primary schools.

He said that although the proposed curriculum may help to improve race relations in the community, the real reason for the change was to ensure all sectors of society were fairly represented.

"We hope the new programme will improve students' self-concept and knowledge of their own ethnic origins,'' he said.