A private textbook editor sues the Bayannaoer City Education Bureau to
change the use of English textbooks in junior high schools
"We request the cancellation of the decision made by the Bayannaoer City Education Bureau in 2020 regarding the selection of English textbooks for junior high schools." Beijing Renai Education Research Institute (hereinafter referred to as "Renai Institute") sued the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Education Department and Bayannaoer Education Bureau to court On November 11, during the second hearing, the institute reiterated its appeal.
Starting from the fall semester of 2020, Bayannaoer City has selected English textbooks published by People's Education Press to replace the "Benevolence Edition" textbooks.
Before the textbook change, the city had switched to the middle school examination papers of its neighboring city Baotou in 2019, and Baotou used the "People's Education Edition" junior high school English textbooks.
Zhao Yong, director of the Renai Institute, questioned the Bayannaoer Education Bureau's use of test questions to change textbooks.
The Bayannaoer City Education Bureau denied this statement, stating that "the call for changing teaching materials has been around for a long time."
This turmoil of textbook changes also brought trouble to local teachers and students.
The reporter's investigation found that all middle schools in Bayannur City generally distributed the "Benevolence Edition" textbooks, used the "Personal Education Edition" textbooks, and mixed the two textbooks for class.
Due to the sudden change of exam questions and textbooks, students can’t keep up, leading to lower grades. The inconsistency of textbooks in class causes confusion. Teachers are also under greater pressure. Many frontline teachers support the replacement of textbooks.
Suddenly changing exam questions on the eve of the high school entrance examination
In May 2019, two months before the high school entrance examination, the Bayannaoer City Education Bureau suddenly notified that all the Baotou middle school examination papers would be used for the high school entrance examination that year.
For many years, Baotou Junior High School English has adopted the "Personal Education Edition" textbooks, and Bayannaoer has adopted the "Benevolence Edition" textbooks.
According to Zhang Qi, an English teacher at Bayannaoer No. 2 Middle School, the contents of the two textbooks are quite different, with different vocabulary, topics, and grammar. The "People's Education Edition" is more difficult than the "Benevolence Edition".
Urad Zhongqi No. 1 Middle School wrote in a suggestion to relevant departments: “Bring back their (Baotou) junior high school test papers to our school’s students for trial. As a result, considerable problems appeared in English subjects. There is a considerable gap in the ability to solve English test questions."
The results of the English high school entrance examination that year confirmed the gap between the two places: Bayannaoer City's average English score for the 2019 high school entrance examination was 54.06 points, which was nearly 13 points lower than that of Baotou City, and the passing rate was only 26.96%, which was low among all subjects.
The textbook selection program was stopped and restarted
In February 2019, the Bayannaoer City Education Bureau issued an announcement on the selection of "Personal Education Edition" junior high school English textbooks.
However, after the results were announced, Ren Ai reported to the Education Department of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region that the textbook selection procedures were not compliant.
The Department of Education reviewed that, in accordance with relevant regulations, the Bayannaoer City Education Bureau only publicized 7 natural days, with major and obvious flaws, and it was not a legitimate and effective selection.
In May of this year, the Bayannaoer City Education Bureau restarted the selection of teaching materials, which was approved by the Inner Mongolia Education Department.
After the selection, the Bayannaoer City Education Bureau issued an announcement to officially replace the "Benevolence Edition" with the "Personal Education Edition" junior high school English textbooks.
This time, the Inner Mongolia Department of Education determined that the selection of teaching materials complied with the procedures.
Bayannaoer City Education Bureau plans to change English textbooks in three years. From the beginning of the junior high school in the fall semester of 2020, the "Personal Education Edition" textbooks will be used. In 2021 and 2022, the second and third year textbooks will be replaced.
However, the Education Bureau still purchases the "Benevolence Edition" textbooks for the second and third grades of junior high school students. In the field interview, reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily found that Linhe No. 4 and No. 5 Middle School and Bayannaoer No. 2 Middle School The students in the second and third grades purchased the "Personal Education Edition" textbooks.
In April this year, Wulante Zhongqi No. 1 Middle School applied to the Bayannaoer City Education Bureau for the use of PEP English textbooks in the fall of 2020. “Because our middle school uses Baotou exam questions in recent years, the English textbooks in the two places are not unified. Our teaching has caused a lot of inconvenience. We have to take into account the "Personal Education Edition" textbooks when we study the "Benevolence Edition" textbooks. The time is tight and the tasks are heavy, which adds to our teaching burden."
A survey report also summarized the shortcomings of the "Benevolence Edition" textbooks: English textbook versions at the elementary, junior, and high school stages are not connected; there are problems with the textbook layout system; grammar induction is not systematic, and students cannot concentrate on learning; the difficulty of teaching materials increases ; The supporting exercise book cannot be updated in time.
Some schools mentioned the impact of changes in the middle school examination papers on the selection of textbooks in their reports, but the Bayannaoer City Education Bureau has always denied it, insisting that "the middle school examination questions are based on curriculum standards, not based on textbooks."
Teachers and students buy teaching materials separately, "mix and match" classes cause confusion
It is a foregone conclusion that Bayannaoer City High School Entrance Examination Questions will be replaced with Baotou questions. Under the "baton" of the Senior High School Entrance Examination, the distribution of one textbook and the use of another textbook has become the tacit "flexible" rule of every middle school in Bayannaoer City. .
After the start of the autumn semester in 2019, Li Hui, an English teacher at Bayannaoer No. 2 Middle School, and the second-year students in the class received the "Benevolence Edition" textbooks, but she could only let the students purchase the "Personal Education Edition" textbooks and Teaching assistants, daily teaching is also based on the "Personal Education Edition", "The exam questions have been changed, and I cannot make a temporary surprise before the entrance exam."
A reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily walked into the classrooms of the second and third grades of Bayannaoer No. 2 Middle School and found that most students only brought the "People's Education Edition" textbook. A second grade student of the school told reporters , "None of us brought benevolence textbooks. The teacher said to learn from others first, and wait until the end of the semester before going to benevolence."
In addition, in Bayannaoer City’s primary and secondary school teaching and research section every semester organizes random examinations and final entrance exams. The English test questions are still based on the "Benevolent Version", and the high school entrance exams are based on the "People's Education Version".
In the interview, Li Hui mentioned more than once that frontline teachers are "too difficult."
She said that the high school entrance examination questions have been changed, but the textbooks have not been changed. "The Education Bureau has issued a notice that the'Benevolence Edition' textbooks must be used. We can only steal the lessons." The content of the two textbooks is very different, and Li Hui has no time to teach. Both learn, and can only focus on the "Personal Education Edition".
Later, a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily came to Linhe No. 5 Middle School and Linhe No. 4 Middle School to randomly interview a number of students and learned that no matter what grade they are in, teaching materials are currently based on "People's Education Edition" textbooks.
On November 13, Zhao Yong, director of the Renai Institute, reported to the Bayannaoer Disciplinary Inspection Commission that the Bayannaoer Education Bureau wasted 5.67 million yuan in state financial funds by purchasing two sets of teaching materials for three consecutive years.
"Changing textbooks is in accordance with the wishes of teachers and students"
"Personal Education Edition" textbooks have gradually entered the classroom, but this textbook controversy has not yet subsided.
Renai Institute insists that the process of selecting teaching materials by the Bayannaoer City Education Bureau is not standardized. The Education Bureau started the selection of teaching materials in 2019. After it was stopped by the Inner Mongolia Education Department, it publicly selected the "Benevolence Edition". The replacement procedure should not be initiated in 2020. , Because this violates the "textbook version once selected for use, can not be replaced midway, should maintain a stable period of more than 3 years."
In court, the Bayannaoer City Education Bureau argued that “the call for the replacement of teaching materials has been around for a long time...Since 2013, teachers and faculty members have reported that they have replaced teaching materials.”
As of press time, the case has not yet been decided.
This is not the first time the "Benevolence Edition" textbook has been replaced.
Beginning in 2010, the Institute of Human Rights and the education departments of Guangdong, Hubei, Anhui and other provinces have filed court cases, triggering a number of textbook controversies.
Renai Institute is a private educational research institution that has compiled three textbooks of English, Chemistry and Geography that have passed the review of the Ministry of Education.
The development of different banners and counties in Bayannaoer City is quite different.
In an interview with a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily, Hao Jianjun, Section Chief of the Elementary Education Section of the Education Bureau of Bayannaoer City, said that none of the teaching materials can be applied to all teachers and students in Bayannaoer City. The "People's Education Edition" textbook is the common wish of everyone, "(Are there any questions) waiting for the court's decision."
(At the request of interviewees, Zhang Qi and Li Hui are both pseudonyms)
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Shi Jia Source: China Youth Daily