Textbooks must not misguide children

The Ministry of Education has instructed the People's Education Press to probe into some people's complaints about the quality of illustrations in some of the textbooks it publishes for primary school students, and replace the illustrations in the textbooks for the new semester starting this autumn.

That should serve to put an end to the incident.

Over the past week, an artist surnamed Wu, along with his teacher, work studio and college, was in the eye of a vortex of public censure as some found the illustrations he painted for the mathematics textbooks for students of grade 1 to grade 6"unpleasant" to their eyes.

They argued that some images in the illustrations are ugly, and some have strong sexual innuendos or contain signs propagating United States culture and Japanese militarism, alleging that these cause "spiritual pollution" among adolescents.

Some have questioned Wu's purpose of drawing the illustrations that way, and demand an explanation from the publishing house on how it could give a green light to these illustrations that they claim should have never been appearing in a textbook.

These voices have caught the wide attention of the whole society. And it has become a consensus that illustrations in textbooks should be of high quality to ensure they cultivate the right values and outlook among the students.

As the ministry's instructions clearly indicate, textbooks must adhere to the correct political direction and values, carry forward outstanding traditional Chinese culture and accord with the public's aesthetic tastes.

First-class artists should be invited to paint for textbooks, and that should be taken as an honor as the work is meaningful for the country's future. It is to be hoped that more textbooks with high quality illustrations meeting these requirements can be published in the country.