Amid controversy over claims that the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education included the novel ‘The Vegetarian’ by Han Kang, the first Korean writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, on the list of harmful books, the Provincial Office of Education has begun to provide an explanation.
Author Han Kang, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Yonhap News
According to the Office of Education on the 11th, conservative parents’ groups continued to file complaints last year that books were stored in some school libraries, pointing out books they claimed were harmful to students.
Accordingly, from September to November of the same year, the Provincial Office of Education delivered an official document to the Office of Education containing the standards for reviewing harmful media materials for youth, and instructed schools at each level to hold a library management committee in which parents and others participate to determine harmful books.
However, a report containing the claims of a conservative parents’ group was attached to the official document, and it is known that some schools referred to it when deciding on harmful books.
As a result, approximately 2,490 schools discarded a total of 2,517 books, judging them to be harmful sex education books for youth. This means that one book per school was discarded.
In particular, one private high school in the province was confirmed to have discarded the novel ‘The Vegetarian’. The school reportedly judged that some sex-related content among the vegetarian content could have a negative impact on students.
The Provincial Office of Education began to actively seek explanation as controversy grew over the fact that ‘Vegetarian’ was designated as a harmful book and was treated and discarded as if it were an unsafe book.
The Provincial Office of Education said in a statement that day, “Some media reports that certain books were designated as harmful and discarded are not true at all,” and added, “Each school held a steering committee and decided autonomously on the sex education books that were discarded last year. “We did not force any specific books,” he said.
On the other hand, the Gyeonggi branch of the Teachers and Education Workers Union demanded an apology, claiming that the Office of Education pressured them to discard sex education books. The Gyeonggi branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union said in a statement, “The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education’s indiscriminate censorship, which blocks students’ learning in the name of student protection, is violence,” and emphasized, “Do not hide behind the excuse of school discretion and apologize for encouraging and pressuring the destruction of sex education books.” did it
Reporter Park Yoon-hee pyh@segye.com
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Source: www.segye.com
