Middle and high school textbooks are normally revised every five years, when the curriculum changes. But this is the first time in eight years that the English and math textbooks for first-year middle school students have been changed, and the first time in seven years for first-year high school students. Textbooks for the other subjects for first-year middle and high school students, and all textbooks for second- and third-year middle and high school students will be revised step by step from 2010.

And as the deadline for choosing English and math textbooks approaches, the competition is fiercer than ever. The number of publishers has multiplied since 2001, and since English and math are among the most important subjects, publishers view this as a great opportunity to increase their name recognition. That will make it easier for them to get textbooks in other subjects chosen in the future. There are more than 30 publishers in the running, with 104 English and math textbooks for middle school, and 70 for high school.

It is entirely up to each school to choose what textbooks to use. The job of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is only to determine whether the textbooks are suitable for use. In theory, a council made up of teachers, parents, and members of the local community is in charge of selection, but since it is impossible for all members to go through a massive pile of books, teachers are very powerful in the process. The number of schools that use their textbooks determines the publishers’ earnings, because they can also sell reference books and students’ workbooks along with the textbooks.

Writing a textbook takes at least six months of labor, with a team of six to 10 professors and teachers of each subject. A “star” writer of textbooks who has written several that were passed by the Education Ministry earns more than W70 million (US$1=W1,045). A publisher said it costs about W200 million to produce a textbook to cover editing, printing, and labor costs -- and W2 billion if lobbying is included.

This is where the problem begins: with excessive lobbying by some publishers. “We’re given a quota from headquarters like, ‘Get 30 percent of schools in a district to choose our textbook,’” says one staffer. “When we fail to fulfill the quota, the sales manager gets immediately replaced.” In 2006, 30 teachers who took bribes from publishers were booked by the police. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced early last year that it will carry out intensive investigation to prevent or detect bribery in the selection process. In principle, if a publisher gets caught bribing teachers, the license to publish textbooks is suspended or revoked, or the textbooks stripped of their pass certificate. Teachers who take bribes are also subject to dismissal or reduction of salary, according to the scale of bribery.

An official at the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union says the practice of bribing teachers still exists. “Education authorities need to tighten their inspection, and intensify punishment for teachers to eradicate this practice,” he said.

(englishnews@chosun.com )