A school that was reprimanded last year for serving students expired
food has wound up in the spotlight again after using supplementary
material for eighth-graders that contained a sexual joke.
Shanghai school
The education authority of Pudong New Area in Shanghai has ordered
severe punishment for those responsible for the teaching materials used
by SMIC Private School (Shanghai), and called for an overhaul of
supplementary textbooks at primary and middle schools in the region.
The education bureau told the school to immediately stop using the
materials, the authority said in a circular on Thursday (Jan 24). It
also accused the school of chaotic management and misdeeds in the
selection of supplementary materials.The reprimand was for including
material in a book for youngsters that referred to female anatomy and
strongly alluded to an oral sex act. It was published by Shanghai
Oriental Laser Education Culture.
Parents of the eighth-graders discovered the off-colour joke, titled
"Mommy's Washcloth", in a book assigned as homework for the winter
vacation.Children had been asked to read the joke and leave their
comments.
The school, founded in 2001 by Semiconductor Manufacturing International
(Shanghai) Corp, has more than 2,900 students from 25 countries and
regions. It admitted its fault in selecting the material on Thursday.The
school will be severely punished for the sexually oriented joke,
according to the education authority.
Mr Xiong Bingqi, deputy dean of the 21st Century Education Research
Institute, said on Thursday that both the publisher and the school were
at fault."That the material was able to enter the school's procurement
system shows chaotic management. Private schools need to strengthen
internal management to prevent such mistakes," Mr Xiong said.
He also suggested that the faculty and parents' association should be
involved in the selection of supplementary learning materials at private
schools. On one hand, such a move would reflect the autonomy of the
school, while on the other hand it would improve the overall quality of
the books the school uses, he said.On Thursday, the school strongly
condemned the company and said it had punished the vice-principal and
another teacher.
Last October, the school was caught up in a food safety scandal after
parents found expired goods, mouldy produce and unhygienic conditions
during a surprise inspection of its kitchen. That incident led to a call
for stronger inspections of school canteens.
The Wall