According to the Asahi Shimbun and the Yomiuri Shimbun on Wednesday, the working-level committee of the Central Education Council, an advisory organization for the education, science and engineering sector, summarized the results of the discussions for about a year. Japan has defined digital textbooks as “alternative textbooks” rather than official ones.
If it is finally recognized as an official textbook, it must be approved and provided free of charge to elementary and middle school students.
Based on the results of this discussion, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology plans to push for amendments to related laws next year after further review.
In line with the revision of the learning guidance guidelines, it plans to allow digital textbooks to be used as official textbooks from 2030.
Digital textbooks are basically made to digitize paper textbooks so that they can be viewed on terminals, but the amount of information is likely to increase, so a change in the way textbooks are tested is needed.
“In Sweden and Finland, there has not been sufficient verification of negative aspects, such as a move to return to paper textbooks,” the Yomiuri Shimbun said. “The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology plans to create guidelines and suggest appropriate handling of digital textbooks.”
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
