EBS and quality of public education

Students are increasingly being victimized by Educational Broadcasting System textbooks. EBS said Friday that 64 mistakes were found in one of its textbooks, and advised students who bought the book to receive the correct answers and explanation materials at bookstores. This is not the first time EBS textbooks and lectures contained errors and incorrect answers. The network frequently posts corrections on its homepage. Sixteen corrections for another EBS textbook were posted online between June 16 and July 26.

EBS posted a letter of apology on its website Friday, saying, “We will improve the quality of our textbooks by bringing in professors in the respective majors and having them stay in camp to conduct a thorough review.” Simple improving the quality of textbooks is not the solution, however. The fundamental problem lies with President Lee Myung-bak’s education policy of reducing private tutoring costs and placing EBS at the center of public education.

Briefed on university entrance exam policy in February, President Lee said, “People have little confidence in the government’s announcement that 70 percent of the national college entrance exam will be based on lectures and textbooks run and published by EBS. Make sure that EBS lectures are effectively reflected in the exams.” Since he made these comments, high school teachers have been using EBS textbooks in class and students are memorizing answers and questions. These textbooks have turned into main educational materials that degrade the quality of education because of lack of incentive for teachers to foster creativity in students and to teach based on varying student capabilities. It is open to doubt whether the younger generation can effectively compete with global rivals with a creative and challenging spirit. President Lee previously emphasized the importance of governmental support for education, calling the nation`s youth the “G-20 generation.”

Government support has failed to reduce private education costs. Since Seoul has pushed for easier exams, students have flocked to private academies to improve their scholastic records and prepare for essays. EBS earned 117.3 billion won (110 U.S. million dollars) last year through textbook sales. This monopoly adversely affected smaller publishers.

The key to education policy is to raise the quality of public education, not just ban private education. College exams should be revamped in a way that effectively tests whether students can succeed in university. The policy should discourage cramming and memorization of equations and formulas. The government’s EBS education concept will only result in more damage to the memorization-oriented public education.