JAPAN TIMES
 

More than 800 public school teachers involved in textbook selections for local schools were rewarded for giving publishers feedback on textbooks undergoing government screening, the education ministry said Thursday.
Of the public school teachers whom publishers showed their textbooks being screened by the government, 1,009 were involved in the municipal processes to select textbooks for local schools. Of them, 818 received monetary or other rewards from publishers, according to a ministry survey.

In 99 cases, textbooks shown to teachers were newly adopted through the selection processes in which the teachers were involved.

But the ministry said it could not confirm any unfair practices in these cases, concluding that the selection procedures “were not affected.”

The latest survey is a followup of a January survey that found that 12 publishing houses had teachers and other outsiders view their draft textbooks being screened and 10 firms paid them rewards.

In the latest survey, regional boards of education conducted hearings and other research based on lists of more than 5,000 teachers reported by publishers for the January survey.

Excluding those who had already retired or whose identity was not confirmed, 4,525 public school teachers were shown textbooks under the screening process and 3,507 of them received rewards. At national and private schools, 172 teachers were shown such textbooks.

Among the public school teachers who viewed the textbooks, some 20 percent were involved in the municipal textbook selection processes, including as researchers and selection council members.

Educational boards also checked the records of textbook selection processes. But no acts that might raise questions over the fairness of the processes were found, such as strong recommendations by teachers for the books they had been shown, the ministry said.

Rewards were given in 89 out of the 99 cases in which textbooks shown to teachers were newly adopted for municipal schools and in more than 300 cases in which the continued use of such textbooks was decided. However, the percentages “are not significantly high” compared with other textbooks, the ministry said.

On Thursday, the ministry told the boards of education and related entities across Japan to ensure the fairness of the selection processes.

The ministry requests thorough examinations of textbook selection researcher candidates to confirm they do not share interests with publishers. It also called for punishment for those getting inappropriate rewards from publishers.