The government’s decision on Monday to return to a state-authored history textbook turned the nation’s democracy ― and education ― back to four decades ago.
In 1974, the then Park Chung-hee administration merged all textbooks into one, reflecting what it said was the “situation facing the nation that confronts a hostile North Korea and the need to unify public opinion.” In announcing the government’s latest decision, Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea did not of course say so, and instead stressed the need for an ideologically balanced, or “right,” history book.
Yet the public find little difference from 41 years ago in that the ruling elite are taking away educational initiatives from teachers and students.
Nothing showed it better than the series of protest rallies last week, first by collegians and then by middle and high school students, against the Park Geun-hye administration’s attempts to disallow diverse opinions in history education. Renowned historians and thousands of professors and teachers have also issued declarations against the government’s move.
We do not feel the need to enumerate the countless problems and disadvantages of state textbooks. Suffice to say that democracy and creative education are not possible without the free presentation of diverse opinions.
“State-designated textbooks are highly likely to exact only one viewpoint and does not sit well with democracy,” a report said. “Authoritarian or dictatorial countries tend to opt for government textbooks while democratic nations adopt approval or a free publication system of textbooks.”
Surprisingly, the author of this 2013 report is the think tank of the Saenuri Party. But the ruling party reversed its stance in just two years ― at the behest of its boss, President Park. In February 2014, Park, noting that there were factual errors and ideological biases in approved history textbooks, instructed her Cabinet to “develop ideologically balanced textbooks based on facts.” The governing party has reaffirmed it is nothing but the President’s rubberstamp.
If the current eight history textbooks are considered as left-leaning, what the government should do is to toughen the screening process or let right-wingers publish their own so that they can freely compete in the market, not return to the system of dictatorial days.
Saenuri Party officials say the existing textbooks were written by leftists who are followers of North Korea. But the rightists must realize they are the real followers of North Korea which, along with a few other authoritarian countries, uses state textbooks. Even Japan under nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has never made similar attempts. Cheong Wa Dae hit back against a New York Times editorial last year, which pointed out the common problems of President Park and Prime Minister Abe in trying to distort history for their families. If anything, the Japanese leader might well feel the comparison unfair.
The education ministry has barely more than a year to write the “right” book in a more right-leaning way. Given that it takes at least five or six years to write textbooks, you do not have to see it to know it will be full of errors, as seen in a previous textbook that rightists wrote a few years ago.
President Park might want to erase her father’s disgraceful past and emphasize his legacy. Yet Park must know publishing a problem-ridden ― and short-lived ― textbook would not only taint her father’s reputation further but destroy her own legacy.