South Korea to oversee content in history textbooks in schools

AN announcement by the South Korean Government regarding the introduction of state issued textbooks in schools has been met with criticism across a broad spectrum of observers.

Secondary schools in South Korea are in a position at this time to select their course materials from eight separate publishing companies. 

This freedom looks to be under threat as a new textbook named ‘The Correct Textbook of History’ is set to be the only class material from 2017 on.

The government now insists that all secondary schools must use history books not only approved by but also issued by the state.

Their reasoning is said to be that the material which is used at present is biased toward North Korea and encourage leftist ideas.

The new ‘Correct Textbook’ is set to be drafted by history teachers and academics appointed by the South Korean government. 

Students have begun to protest such a change. One student group spoke to the Korea Times about the government interfering with “the interpretation and teaching of history.”

“This infringes the independence and political neutrality of education guaranteed by the Constitution,” they added.