South Korea’s National Assembly has passed a bill that removes legal recognition for AI-powered digital textbooks as official teaching materials, effective immediately.

The amendment, led by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, limits the definition of official textbooks to printed books and e-books, excluding learning support software using intelligent information technology.

This change ends the legal and financial backing for AI digital textbooks in schools, impacting a project that received at least 533.3 billion won (US$385 million) in funding last year.

AI textbooks, launched under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration, were piloted in English and math classes for grades 3 and 4 in elementary schools, and in English, math, and computer science classes in middle and high schools.

Adoption rates for these AI textbooks are currently around 30 percent, following a shift from mandatory to voluntary use due to criticism from educators and parents.

Schools now face funding uncertainty for future AI textbook subscriptions, and publishers warn of layoffs and restructuring after significant investment in development.

The Education Ministry said it will suspend the current review of digital textbooks and provide guidance to schools to minimize disruption.

🔗 Source: The Korea Herald

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ South Korea’s digital education ambitions have faced repeated setbacks over decades

This isn’t South Korea’s first attempt at transforming classroom learning through technology. The country has been pursuing digital education goals for over a decade with mixed results.

In 2011, over 50% of South Koreans aged three and older were already using e-learning platforms, and the Ministry of Education planned to eliminate paper textbooks entirely by 20151. That earlier initiative aimed to transition elementary schools to digital textbooks by 2014 and middle and high schools by 20151.

Yet here we are nearly a decade later with AI textbooks facing the same fundamental challenges: low adoption rates hovering around 30% and resistance from educators and parents2.

The persistence of paper-based entrance exams was identified as a major barrier to digital adoption in the earlier initiative1, suggesting that assessment systems need to change alongside teaching materials for successful digital transformation.

This highlights how technological solutions in education often struggle against institutional inertia, regardless of government funding or political backing.

2️⃣ Educational technology companies face extreme political risk in government-dependent markets