Probe starts into textbooks with ‘Western values’

China is launching a nationwide investigation on the use of foreign textbooks at Chinese universities and colleges, following a previous government pledge to reject texts spreading “Western values” at the nation’s centres of higher education, writes Laura He for MarketWatch.

Several universities in Beijing received notifications last week from the Ministry of Education requiring instructors to fill out investigation forms about the presence and use of “foreign textbooks in original languages” in class, the government-run Beijing Youth Daily reported recently.

According to the ministry’s questionnaire, the investigation covers universities, colleges and vocational schools at both the national and provincial level, the report said. Notifications have also gone out to various provinces, requiring officials there to select a representative mix of five universities and colleges and vet them for the use of foreign materials.
Full report on the MarketWatch site