China has punished more than two dozen education officials over a series of math textbooks drawings that an investigation found portrayed the nation’s children as “ugly.”
The Chinese Ministry of Education said in a statement yesterday that 27 officials from the state-owned publisher had been reprimanded or dismissed over illustrations that had “fallen short of the fundamental requirements of moral education.”
“The overall style of the illustrations do not conform to the aesthetic tastes of the public,” the ministry said. “Some illustrated characters are ugly, show poor spirit and style, and do not reflect a positive image of our nation’s children.”
Photo: Screengrab from Weibo page
The People’s Education Press primary school books sparked outcry on Chinese social media in May over drawings of students with small eyes that some called racist, the apparent depiction of male genitalia on boys’ pants, and children wearing clothing bearing stars and stripes, which was seen as pro-US attire.
In May, the country’s biggest textbook publisher issued a public apology on its official WeChat account after being ordered to redesign its materials for the semester starting next month.
China has tightened control over its textbooks and curriculum in the past few years to boost patriotism among its youth. The government has moved to ban textbooks from overseas publishers, and trained primary and secondary students in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ideological teachings.
Photo: Screengrab from Weibo page
The education ministry yesterday said the publisher had failed to understand the purpose of education texts.
It vowed to strengthen the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership over teaching materials to ensure they would “always adhere to the correct political direction and value orientation.”
Kouri Richins, a Utah mother who published a children’s book about grief after the death of her husband is to serve a life sentence for his murder without the possibility of parole, a judge ruled on Wednesday. Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing a cocktail given to her husband, Eric Richins, with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022. A jury also found her guilty of four other felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Feb. 14, 2022, with a
DELA ROSA CASE: The whereabouts of the senator, who is wanted by the ICC, was unclear, while President Marcos faces a political test over the senate situation Philippine authorities yesterday were seeking confirmation of reports that a top politician wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) had fled, a day after gunfire rang out at the Philippine Senate where he had taken refuge fearing his arrest. Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the former national police chief and top enforcer of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs,” has been under Senate protection and is wanted for crimes against humanity, the same charges Duterte is accused of. “Several sources confirmed that the senator, Senator Bato, is no longer in the Senate premises, but we are still getting confirmation,” Presidential
HELP DENIED? The US Department of State said that the Cuban leadership refuses to allow the US to provide aid to Cubans, ‘who are in desperate need of assistance’ US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said that Cuba’s leadership must change, as Washington renewed an offer of US$100 million in aid if the communist nation agrees to cooperate. Cuba has been suffering severe economic tumult led by an energy shortage that plunged 65 percent of the country into darkness on Tuesday. Cuba’s leaders have blamed US sanctions, but Rubio, a Cuban American and critic of the government established by Fidel Castro, said the system was to blame, including corruption by the military. “It’s a broken, nonfunctional economy, and it’s impossible to change it. I wish it were different,” he told
Myanmar yesterday published a parliamentary bill proposing the death sentence for those who detain or violently coerce people into working in online scam centers. Internet fraud factories have flourished in Myanmar, part of Southeast Asia’s scam economy, targeting Internet users worldwide with romance and cryptocurrency investment cons. The multibillion-dollar black market attracts many willing employees, but repatriated foreigners have also reported being trafficked to sites in Myanmar and tortured by scam center operators. The draft legislation would allow capital punishment for “violence, torture, unlawful arrest and detention, or cruel treatment against another person for the purpose of forcing them to commit online scams.” The
RSS