China has fired or reprimanded 27 officials after outrage over illustrations in a series of math books for primary school children. After investigation, the Ministry of Education states, among other things, that some of the children depicted are ‘ugly’ and the illustrations ‘do not show a positive image’ of Chinese children.
The ministry said in a statement that the drawings do not meet the ‘fundamental requirements for moral education’. In addition, it is reported that the ‘general style of the illustrations does not match the aesthetic taste of the public’. “Some of the characters are ugly, have a bad mentality and don’t show a positive image of the children of the nation,” it said.
In May, there was a commotion on Chinese social media about some books from the Chinese textbook publisher. Some called the drawings racist, because they show slant-eyed children. They also found it inappropriate that some boys have a clear bulge in their pants. That some children wore clothes with stars and stripes was seen as pro-American.
Apology
On WeChat, China’s Twitter, the publisher issued a public apology shortly after the media storm. The books for the new school year have been adjusted. The publisher had not understood the purpose of the educational texts, the ministry said. It promised to strengthen the Communist Party’s authority over the teaching materials, to ensure that it “always maintains the right political direction and value orientation.”
According to the Chinese state newspaper Global Times the design studio in question is no longer allowed to make illustrations for school books. The newspaper writes that the ministry is investigating the illustrations in all teaching and reading books in primary and secondary education. It is checked whether they ‘represent the correct values, correspond to Chinese culture and are in line with the aesthetics’.
Patriotism
In China, rules for teaching materials have been tightened in recent years to encourage patriotism among children. For example, schools are not allowed to use textbooks from foreign publishers. Also, children’s books should not encourage minors to engage in behavior that is perceived as immoral or violent. Furthermore, content that could be harmful to their physical and mental health, such as horror or atrocities, is prohibited.
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