China announced a ban for foreign teaching materials to be used in the country’s public primary and secondary schools.
Foreign teaching materials banned from mainland
CHINA – On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education announced its ban for foreign teaching materials such as textbooks and other reading materials to be used in all public primary and secondary schools. The action made by the ministry is highly suspected to be part of the strict implementation of communist ideals in schools all across China.
The guideline provided by the Ministry of Education insists that schools must focus on the guiding principles of Marxism and how to incorporate it with the Chinese way of life.
All primary and secondary schools in the country are urged to use teaching materials that reflect the communist interest of the country. Students bear the greater responsibility of rejuvenating the Chinese ideology.
As for senior high schools and college level, it will be hard to monitor those since several schools in China are tied up with foreign education institutions.
The Education Ministry of China is expected to tighten up the screening for all teaching materials intended for primary and secondary levels. Contents of all reading materials should coincide with the political views and value discretion of the country. The ministry will handle subjects that contain topics on national sovereignty and religion.
Backing up the Communist ideology
According to the spokesman for the National Textbook Committee Office:
The ban for foreign teaching materials shows the strong commitment of this government to incorporate Communism in today’s education system.
A professor from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a China analyst, Willy Lam believes that the whole ban issue is a part of the country’s effort to block outside influence on Chinese ideology.
The professor sees the ban as very timely to the open criticism of Communist ideology by protesters in Hong Kong.
Recent actions by the Chinese government towards strengthening Communism in the country include the following:
- Updated code of ethics for the media
- New morality guidelines
- Imposing communist ideology on China’s top Universities
- Chinese indoctrination at a very young age
Featured image by The National Interest
