Books written by school teachers will be able to win government authorization to be used in classrooms as textbooks, the education ministry said Tuesday. In addition, they will be distributed in CD-ROM format from March, opening the era of the "e-textbook."
The ministry decided to replace 145 government-written and 39 government-audited textbooks used at special high schools with government-authorized books. Books and other class materials created by teachers themselves will be up for authorization, too.
The e-books for Korean language, mathematics and English will be distributed free of charge to elementary and middle school students. For high school students, the government will pay the cost for low-income households.
The ministry explained that the diversified textbooks will help reduce private tuitions fees and other educational costs.
However, the progressive Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union stated that the replacement will bring an overall price hike for textbooks burdening students.