Textbook publisher should learn a lesson

The People’s Education Press apologized recently for six mistakes in a textbook only after a teacher, who wrote to the publishing house about more than 30 mistakes in the textbook but got no reply, took the publication to court. This attitude toward readers is beyond imagination, said an article in the Shanghai Morning Post (excerpts below).

When mistakes are uncovered, publishing houses should correct the errors or recall the books.

However, the People’s Education Press ignored positive feedback highlighting mistakes and only issued an official response when facing a lawsuit.

The quality of textbook helps define the quality of teaching.

Instead of taking measures, such as posting a notice of the mistakes on its official website, the press initially ignored the feedback before eventually recognizing six mistakes amid widespread publicity.

Teachers and students should have the final say regarding which textbooks to use and how to guarantee and improve their quality.