- The publisher has apologized and has promised to replace the illustrations.
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| Image of a school in Wuhan, China. |
China punishes 27 people for controversial images in children's textbooks
The Chinese Ministry of Education has punished 27 people as a result of controversial illustrations that appeared in a children's textbook that caused a scandal in the country this year, the official People's Daily reported on Monday.
Last May, illustrations of a math book began to be shared on Chinese social networks in which children could be seen in strange poses, with crooked mouths, tongues sticking out and half-closed eyes.
So this is top trending on Weibo today: an elementary schoolbook published by the People's Education Press has attracted the attention of netizens for being "tragically ugly" and overall super weird. Judge for yourself: https://t.co/jcUm8QHtGe pic.twitter.com/40cxUJEp8w
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) May 26, 2022
Other drawings allegedly showed students in acts of sexual connotation, and even exhibited, according to some Chinese netizens, a boy without pants showing his penis.
Internet users also pointed out that in some graphics the crotch of the children exposed the outline of their genitals.
The investigation of the Education portfolio concluded that some of the illustrations "were not serious or of a high professional level" and gave rise to "misinterpretations".
The Ministry also assured that the design "does not conform to the aesthetic habits of the public" and that some of the characters drawn "are ugly", which "does not adequately reflect the happy Chinese childhood".
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Among the 27 people sanctioned are the president of People's Education Press, the publishing house that published the books, and the company's editor-in-chief, who has been fired.
When the controversy broke out, the publisher published a statement apologizing and claiming to feel a deep sense of guilt and confirmed that they were already working to hire new designers who will be in charge of replacing the illustrations for the new semester that will begin in the fall.
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