On the eve of the privatization of Taiwan's primary school textbook publishing, it was predicted that abandoning the old nationally-controlled system of textbook publishing and editing would lead to the new, privately-published textbooks becoming the basis for a redefinition of legitimate learning and ideology in Taiwanese society. Large private publishing companies would come to dominate the market, producing the new standard in textbooks and turning learning into a mass-produced commodity. Textbook publication would become a enormous intellectual industry. However, what has shocked experts is that, after a year under the new system, such predictions have yet to come true. Why?

Public opinion influenced the decision to open up Taiwan's textbook production to private publishers. Some even believe that the public forced the government's hand on the issue. "With the abolition of martial law, political pressure from the public was a key factor (in the decision)," says Chou Shu-ching, who earned her Ph.D. in education from National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU). Legislators were seeking to end the system of nationally-standardized textbooks in an effort to liberalize Taiwanese education. The undermining of government authority implicit in this is quite clear.

The opening of textbook publication to the private sector did cause some demands for returning to "education for education's sake" to arise. Questions raised included: "Won't allowing private companies to handle publishing after decades of government standardization mean an end to guarantees of both "quality" and "quantity" in textbooks?" "How will questions for the entrance exams be written once textbooks are destandardized?" "If all kinds of different textbooks are available, how will teachers decide which ones to use?" "After the NICT (National Institute for Compilation and Translation) stops publishing textbooks, who's going to publish the less marketable but equally important subjects like middle school electives?" Perhaps due to the political climate of the day, such doubts were quickly drowned out by the clamor for reform and liberalization.

Who will be the guinea pigs?

After 30 years of standardized teaching materials, implementation of major reforms created a certain amount of chaos. With nearly no opportunity for discussion, the island's 80,000 primary school teachers were simply told that they must change. As one primary teacher recalls: "They didn't tell us until summer vacation that we had to hold meetings to discuss purchasing new textbooks. Actually, because we had to have books ready for the students as soon as the next semester began, the school went ahead and ordered textbooks anyway."

Textbook publishers had less than two years from the announcement of the reforms to the deadline for publishing. "We had to (do everything): write the books, print them, get government approval and make revisions," says Carrie Chen, assistant director of Kang Ho Publishing Company's research center. Chen remembers that they were doing revisions at the same time the layouts were being completed. Trips also had to be made to various schools to train teachers with new teaching materials. The pressure to finish in time was immense.

Coming as they did with so little notice, the textbook reforms were a big shock to many parents. Parents with children in primary school simply woke up one day and discovered that not all students would be studying the same textbooks anymore. In parental meetings for primary students, deciding what textbooks to use was the hottest topic. Many parents stated quite frankly that they "don't want their kids to become guinea pigs." Such sentiments are a reflection of parents' concern for their children. They reveal that parents are still getting used to the idea of non-standardized textbooks.

During the initial year under the new system, some ten publishers published a total of about fifty different editions of textbooks. According to Ting Chih-jen, director of the Educational Reform Group Institute, the long-term concern for children's publications expressed by private publishers allowed them to successfully put out a variety of textbooks despite the suddenness of privatization and their lack of experience publishing textbooks.

Such is the power of the private sector. However, there are still many things that are beyond the power of the private sector.

What private sector publishing firms originally set their sights on was the huge primary school textbook market, which consists of over 300,000 student readers. This, plus the possibility of publishing additional reference materials and teaching aids, adds up to potentially enormous profits. It is the main reason publishers were initally jumping at the chance to get in on the textbook market.

NICT is still at the top of the class

However, after the textbook reforms were implemented, the resulting situation at most schools was quite surprising.

Because textbook publishing has only been open to the private sector for a short period of time, many aspects of the process still remain tied to the old government publishing structure. Curricular standards, for example, are still based on principles laid out in the previous government-standardized texbooks. Even after opening up to the private sector, the NICT, formerly the exclusive publisher of the nationally-standardized textbooks, continued to publish texts alongside the new private publishers. "We're working together with the private sector for progress," states Fang Jhy-fang, director of the NICT's textbook committee for Taiwan's primary and middle schools.

According to the NICT's statistics, during the first year of private textbook publication, more than 60% of Taiwan's 2000+ schools continued to use textbooks published by the NICT.

This September marks the beginning of the second year under the new textbook system. According to a promise made by Minister of Education Wu Ching to the Legislative Yuan, the NICT will completely cease publication of textbooks after the year 2000. "This has caused a good deal of primary schools to worry about what textbooks they will use in the future. They're afraid to keep ordering the NICT's," says Fang Jhy-fang. Even so, more than 35% of Taiwan's schools are continuing to use NICT textbooks this year.

During the first year, textbooks published by the more than ten competing private firms were used by less than 40% of students. The second year has seen a change for the better, but even with ten private publishers up against the NICT, the national publisher still comes out as the big winner.

This is not at all what publishers originally expected. As Senseio Publishing executive director Wu Ching-chuan points out, although there was a potential market of 300,000 textbooks in the first year, once it was split among the five or six biggest publishers, any individual firm could only sell 50-60,000 books at best. "Although we've already invested a certain amount in the market, we're still uncertain how much room for development remains," says Wu.

The reason for this situation has to do with previous problems involving purchasing of textbooks. Some schools have felt that using privately published materials is too much of a hassle. "If it's not done right, you get branded as conspiring with the publishers to make a buck," says one school principal. Thus, many schools have simply stuck with the NICT's texts. "Most primary schools haven't gotten used to privatization yet," says Chou Shu-ching. This is one of the main reasons for last year's overwhelming preference for NICT textbooks.

However, an even more crucial factor is the fact that national textbooks are much cheaper than privately published texts. The general tendency has thus been a loyalty to NICT texts and a wariness of private texts.

If the textbook market is to be opened up to the private sector, why keep publishing official texts at all? Fang Jhy-fang explains that the problem with wholesale privatization is that private publishers might be unable to supply enough textbooks to meet the demands of all primary schools. However, in continuing to publish textbooks, the NICT has met with much criticism for the financial support it receives from the government.

As Kang Ho Publishing's Carrie Chen points out, because the NICT is a government organization, the resources it requires to publish textbooks, from office space to personnel costs, are all government-provided. The biggest cost for NICT-published texts lies in the printing. Private publishers, on the other hand, have to take on all the expenses themselves, thus resulting in relatively higher production costs.

Private publishers feel that given the disparity in financial resources between the NICT and private publishers, the fact that there is a similar disparity in textbook prices is not surprising. After opening up primary school textbooks to the free market, the Ministry of Education (MOE) eliminated the system of textbook price limits it had adopted upon privatizing middle school art and music textbook publishing. Even though this allowed publishers to set their own prices, with cheap nationally-published textbooks as a "market price indicator," no publisher was willing to set prices too high.

"This is clearly a case of using public funds to bully private publishers," comments one entrepreneur. Many publishers have made a big fuss about money lost on unsold texts, which has forced them to cut expenses by reducing funds initially set aside for research and development.

Textbooks-but at what price?

The NICT also has its own story to tell. As Fang Jhy-fang points out, the NICT's government funding is limited, and every dollar it spends must be backed by a real source of funds. NICT funding has also stagnated over the last few years. The institute's editing funds, for example, are quite tight. Fang states, "We're still given the same NT$100,000 to edit one subject that we've always been given. The only way to hire an editor for that kind of money today is to appeal to the honor of the position." Furthermore, unlike private publishers who have their own printing factories, the NICT is unable to save money on printing by increasing efficiency or making better use of resources. It is therefore difficult to say whether the NICT's publishing outlook is really much better than that of private publishers.

Private publishers, in the end, are "in the business for the business." They concern themselves with costs, profits and return on investments. The NICT, caught as it is in the midst of this intense private competition, is forced to do battle with other publishers. The arrival of private textbook publishing has meant that it has had to make some adjustments to its strategy.

One educational reformer has commented that, in this age of "free market education" where textbooks have become "intellectual commodities," it is difficult to expect publishers not to concern themselves with business and other factors not related to education. But the bigger question is, are the rules of the new privatized education game fair? Are they consistent? Perhaps publishing firms should take a moment to consider whether the quality of education is being sacrificed for business purposes.

The problems touched upon by the issue of textbook prices are quite broad. In Japan, the US and many European countries, textbooks for mandatory schooling are free. These countries see free texts as an unshirk-able responsibility of mandatory education. It indicates a certain attitude toward the importance of education to a nation.

Textbooks for mandatory education in Taiwan were also free at one time. But after the implementation of the 1968 Mandatory Nine-year Education Program, primary and middle-school student enrollment increased dramatically, and the government began charging a fee for textbooks in order to protect its finances. However, at as low as NT$10 per book, textbook prices were remarkably reasonable by today's standards.

Following the privatization of textbook publishing, the total volume of textbooks published has decreased, printing costs have increased and editing costs have steadily risen, all relative to the state of affairs under nationalized publication. The result is that textbook prices have begun to skyrocket. For NICT-published textbooks, for example, prices have risen an average of 80% from two years ago (the present price for a set of 11 textbooks for five courses is NT$340). Private publishers prices are another 40-60% higher than those of NICT.

Many private publishers believe that, in light of the tightening of the government budget and the unfeasibility of the oft-heard suggestion to bring back free textbooks, the best alternative is to completely privatize publishing, letting students take on textbook costs with the government providing assistance to families unable to pay. However, there are scholars who believe that textbooks are so fundamental to Taiwan's national education that it would be unjust for their costs to be borne entirely by the citizenry. Rather, the government should provide at least partial compensation.

Who controls selection?

In any case, NICT textbooks were by far the cheapest books available during the first year of privatization. Furthermore, during the most recent city and county elections, many politicians campaigned on a platform that called for free school textbooks. However, in the end, due to limited government resources, city and county governments were only able to provide schools with limited funds to assist in purchasing textbooks. The cheaper NICT textbooks were thus the natural first choice for many schools. "Both political and economic interests are influencing what textbooks schools choose to use. It's something that has nothing to do with the content of the textbooks themselves," says Chou Shu-ching.

But besides price, what other influences are at work in the selection of school textbooks? Addressing this question is key to the reform of educational materials. At the moment, primary school textbook selection depends to some degree on a school's city and county educational authorities, but is mostly determined either by the school itself, or by the school in conjunction with other schools in the same district.

In the case of city and county governments selecting textbooks for purchase: "It's difficult to establish guidelines for the relationships between publishers and textbook selection officials. Political influence has given rise to monopolies of whole markets." This is the conclusion reached by Chang Chu-fen, who earned her M.A. in education from NTNU for research on the nature of the textbook selection process following the privatization of middle school arts and music textbooks. Primary schools seem to be facing similar problems today. In one county on the southern coast of Taiwan, the county chief has strong-armed the local bureau of education's selection of textbooks, creating a situation where a single publisher now monopolizes the whole county's market.

Textbook selection made directly at the school level appears to be most suitable method for meeting the individual needs of each school. But the question is, how many ordinary teachers really participate in the selection process? How much weight do their opinions really carry?

At present, all schools have "textbook review committees" consisting of the school principal, administrators, faculty and parents. In some schools, the power to choose students' textbooks resides directly with the teachers, but in others, the principal's opinions are the determining factor in the process.

Teachers' rights

According to research by Chang Chu-fen, in the selection of junior high school art and music texts, principals have used such methods as altering the decisions made by textbook review committees, giving the excuse of achieving a balance of textbooks, swaying the relevant head teachers, and removing employees who do not comply with their wishes in order to influence textbook selection. Carrie P.H. Chen of Kang Ho Publishing Co. states that in many primary schools, the preferences of the principal (sometimes influenced by the principal's relationships with publishing companies), determine the textbooks used by the school.

As a result, many private publishers have begun to use an array of marketing techniques to promote the sale of their textbooks. "In some areas, its hard to avoid giving gifts, and some schools even demand free teaching supplies," says one private publisher. Although they take exception to these practices, in the interests of selling their textbooks, they have no choice but to go along with them. The most common practice among publishers is to arrange for trial use of their new textbooks at schools, for which they pay a "trial-use fee" to the principal. At many primary schools, new textbooks are put on trial use after final textbook decisions have already been made.

It can be seen that a multitude of factors affect textbook selection, and that underneath lies a struggle involving power, gain and values. Many of the underlying processes are unknown to the average person, with power and its application being the most important hidden factors. In the current textbook reform, another question which should be addressed is thus "Do our teachers truly have the ability to select texts?"

"In the process of educating teachers, they are really not taught how to design teaching materials or select textbooks," says Cheng Pao-hsiang, who worked as a teacher in the past. Therefore, when the destandard-ization of textbooks began, the first questions asked by many teachers were, "How should we select texts?" "Will the load be too heavy?" "Are there any accompanying teaching materials?"

For many years, curricula for primary and middle school education in Taiwan was centrally planned, and rules for course content, scheduling and implementation were defined by national education policy. In addition, textbooks were also completely standardized. "Over the years, many teachers had no concept of curriculum and taught just by following the textbooks, thus losing their ability to take charge of course content and teaching materials," says Chungshan Junior High School Principal Chou Li-yu.

Professor Huang Ping-huang of the Department of Education at National Chengchi University (NCCU) also believes that initiative is the quality most lacking in today's primary and middle school teachers: "They are so accustomed to eating instant noodles that they have forgotten how to cook."

Textbooks vs. academic pressure

Shen Hui-fang, a teacher at NCCU's experimental primary school, points out that the great majority of today's primary school teachers are graduates of teachers' colleges and universities, and are filled with enthusiasm for teaching when they are fresh out of school. The current education system, however, shows a lack of consideration for teachers. For example, primary school teachers, in addition to their teaching work, must also take on cross-walk monitoring, evening shifts, election supervision and various other administrative tasks. Moreover, most classes in Taiwan's schools still exceed 35 students. These conditions have a negative impact on teachers' dedication to their work, which in turn detracts from the effectiveness of textbook reform.

And yet teachers have not given up hope. Over the past few years, teachers' groups have made calls for removal of non-education-related factors from the textbook selection process, reductions in class size, etc., thus giving expression to their dedication.

Many educators believe that textbook reform must be carried out in concert with teacher training-teachers should not only be trained to select texts, but also be given control over instruction if they are to successfully meet the new challenges they face.

And textbook reform does not depend on teachers alone. The lingering shadows of exams and academic pressure are the biggest enemies to the reform process.

Indeed, when the destandardization of textbooks was first being discussed, the admissions system was an important factor for consideration.

According to the Ministry of Education, the reason a policy of gradual textbook destandardization was adopted is that this is a massive undertaking, especially given the primacy placed on academic advancement in Taiwan. Moreover, because exam questions have long been based solely on textbook content, "with the sudden disappearance of standardized texts, teachers won't know how to formulate exams; also, the variety of texts will increase the burden on students," said Wu Ching-chi when he was serving as director of the MOE's Department of Secondary Education.

Many people disagree with this view, however. NCCU Professor Huang Ping-huang believes that although academic pressure is a reality, this is just an excuse for preventing textbook reform.

"If exam questions are formulated with the sole aim of testing students' memories, then perhaps textbook destandardization will 'increase the burden placed on students' as the Ministry of Education says; but if students were tested on their ability to synthesize the knowledge contained in textbooks, variety in textbooks might even stimulate teachers to show more initiative in their teaching, and be more dynamic in their formulation of exam questions," says Huang.

Other educators feel that textbook variety will be beneficial not only to exams, but also to the learning process. Wu Mi-cha, associate professor in National Taiwan University's Department of History, states that according to a study, on the Joint College Entrance Exam, only for the English test do scores show a positive correlation to performance in related university courses. Thus, the fact that high school English textbooks have never been standardized provides serious food for thought.

Chou Shu-ching points out that while primary school students are not faced with the pressures of advancing to higher study, they do experience strong pressure due to exams. This pressure results from comparisons of exam performance among students' parents, as well as academic competition among different classes. Because of these factors, many teachers fear change. Senior teachers in particular express the view that: "I've taught for so long, and I'm used to the old textbooks, so why should there be changes?"

New books bring new life

Many educators agree that textbook reform must be accompanied by appropriate supporting measures. Aside from the elimination of non-education-related factors from the selection process, steps that can be taken to further improve quality include establishment of a sound system for textbook review and a reputable organization to compare the various available texts. Of course, teachers must play an integral role in the reform process. "This concerns issues such as how we want to educate the next generation of students, what are the central themes of our education, and whether or not teachers have the courage to take on the challenges facing our education system," says Chou Shu-ching thoughtfully.

A good example is Lu Po-chun, a math teacher at Hu Shan Primary School in Hsinchu. After she began using a new mathematics textbook which everyone considered quite difficult, she was thrilled to find that students in her class had become more willing to think and learn. "For me, this represents not just new teaching materials, but also a new attitude toward teaching, or at the risk of exaggerating, even a whole new outlook on life," says Lu.

Are people truly the key factor?

p.18

Battle for the textbook market? In round one, the government-published books have come out ahead. But what about next round? (picture by Lee Su-ling)

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From standardized national texts to sales by private publishers, have textbooks been completely commercialized?

p.21

Why do publishers crave a slice of the textbook market? Besides the books themselves, there is also money to be made on supplementary reference books and test booklets.

p.22

With large student populations, cities are the main target markets for private sector textbook publishers. (photo by Vincent Chang)

p.23

In terms of content and selection, are the differences between city and country taken into account? (photo by Cheng Yuan-ching)

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Are children's needs paramount in textbook selection, or are non-education-related factors also part of the equation?

Why do publishers crave a slice of the textbook market? Besides the book s themselves, there is also money to be made on supplementary reference books and test booklets.

With large student populations, cities are the main target markets for private sector textbook publishers. （photo by Vincent Chang）

In terms of content and selection, are the differences between city and country taken into account? （photo by Cheng Yuan-ching）

Are children's needs para mount in textbook selection, or are non-education related factors also part of the equation?