Problematic maths figures? Review ordered after row over primary school textbook illustrations
- State-run People’s Education Press hit by claims of sexually and ideologically inappropriate pictures
- Publisher apologises for text in use for a decade
Beijing has ordered fresh review of all textbooks used by the country’s primary and secondary schools in response to perceived sexually and ideologically inappropriate illustrations in a series of maths texts.
The decision followed complaints online that a number of primary school maths textbooks published by People’s Education Press appeared to show children with genitals, wearing stars and stripes and with tattoos.
“We must ensure all the textbooks adhere to correct political directions and values, advocate traditional Chinese culture and meet public aesthetic standards,” the Ministry of Education said on Saturday.
The ministry ordered the state-owned publisher to re-illustrate the textbook and ensure the new version was available for the autumn semester.
It also released contact information for the public to file any other complaints about textbooks.
The illustrations started trending as a topic on Weibo, China’s heavily censored equivalent of Twitter, on Thursday and have attracted tens of millions of views since then.