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RULES ON THE CURRICULUM BOOKS

[Enforcement: Feb. 29, 2008] [Presidential Decree No. 20740, Feb. 29, 2008, Amendment of Other Laws and Regulations]

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (National Curriculum Planning Division) 02-2100-6280

CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1 (Purpose)

The purpose of this Decree is to prescribe matters required for the scope, authorship, authorization, approval, publication, supply, selection, and assessment of prices of curriculum books for each school pursuant to the provisions of Article 29 (2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Article 2 (Definitions)

The definitions of terms used in this Decree shall be as follows:

1. The term "curriculum books" means textbooks and guide books;

2. The term "textbooks" means the books, audio records, visual and electronic works, etc. which are used in schools for the education of students;

3. The term "guide books" means the books, audio records, visual and electronic works, etc. for teachers, which are used in schools for the education of students;

4. The term "government-issued books" means the curriculum books for which the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has copyrights;

5. The term "authorized books" means the curriculum books which have undergone the authorization by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology;

6. The term "approved books" means the curriculum books which have obtained approval of the Minister of Education, Science and Technology for being used in the cases where government-issued books or authorized books are not available, or where it is difficult to use either of them or it is required to supplement them;

7. The term "reorganization" means to modify the contents of curriculum books by more than one half of their total pages (one half of total contents contained, in case of audio records, visual and electronic works, etc.) due to a full-scale or partial revision of curriculum or other reasons; and

8. The term "revision" means to correct, add or reduce, or modify the phrases, sentences, statistics, illustrations, etc. of the curriculum books due to a partial revision of the curriculum or other reasons, of which the extent falls short of the reorganization.

Article 3 (Selection of Curriculum Books)

(1) The principal of a school shall use the government-issued books so far as they are available, and if the government-issued books are not available, shall select and use the authorized books: Provided, that the same shall not apply in the cases where he/she is compelled to use the approved books under Article 16 hereof due to non-existence of the government-issued books and authorized books, or where it is difficult to use either of them or it is required to supplement both of them. (2) The principal of a school shall, in selecting the authorized books for use at the school, undergo a deliberation by the school operation committee: Provided, that in the case that the school operation committee has not been organized until then, the principal of such school shall undergo a deliberation by a council on school operation to be formed in a similar way as that of the school operation committee. (3) The Superintendent of educational affairs, or the superintendent of the local educational office, may prepare data on the features of each kind of book, such as compilation method and contents, which are required for selecting the authorized books to be used at schools within his/her competent area, and provide the principals of such schools with such data.

(4) The Superintendent of educational affairs, or the superintendent of the local educational office, may select authorized books and approved books in the case that a new school is established within his/her competent area, notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2).

CHAPTER II COMPILATION, AUTHORIZATION AND APPROVAL OF CURRICULUM BOOKS

Article 4 (Government-issued Books)

Government-issued books shall be used as curriculum book for subjects determined and publicly notified by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology.

Article 5 (Compilation of Government-issued Books) Government-issued books shall be compiled by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology: Provided, that such Government-issued books as are deemed necessary by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology may be compiled through entrustment to research institutions or universities, etc. Article 6 (Authorized Books)

Authorized books shall be those other than the government-issued books under Article 4, and they shall be used as a curriculum book for subjects determined and publicly notified by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology. Article 7 (Public Notice on Conducting Authorization) (1) The Minister of Education, Science and Technology shall, when intending to conduct authorization, issue public notice of the matters falling under each of the following subparagraphs, not later than one year and a half prior to the commencement of the school year in which the authorized books shall be used initially:

1. Types of curriculum books to be authorized;

2. Qualifications of applicants;

3. Application period;

4. Criteria for authorization;

5. Instructions for compilation;

6. Number of copies to be submitted for authorization;

7. Fee for authorization, and its payment method; and

8. Other matters required for authorization. (2) Public notice under paragraph (1) shall be printed in a daily newspaper. Article 8 (Application for Authorization)

An application for authorization shall be filed by an author of manuscripts (hereinafter referred to as the "author") or a publisher, or filed jointly by the author and the publisher. Article 9 (Method of Authorization)

(1) Authorization shall be conducted by dividing into the first review and the second review.

(2) In the first review, the suitability as a curriculum book shall be reviewed in accordance with the authorization criteria under subparagraph 4 of Article 7 (1). (3) In the second review, it shall be reviewed whether the revisions which have been demanded as a result of the first review are performed, along with the revised contents. (4) A person who has received a demand for revision as a result of the first review may present to the Minister of Education, Science and Technology his/her opinions thereon within the period separately set by the said Minister. Article 10 (Decision on Granting Authorization)

(1) The decision on whether to grant authorization shall be made by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology based on the results of review.

(2) In the cases where the authorized textbooks are composed of not less than two books for a subject, and if one of them fails to meet the criteria, all the books for the subject which have been applied by the same applicant simultaneously shall be disqualified: Provided, that in the case that the authorization periods are different from each other and the decision of disqualification is rendered to the book applied later, such decision shall not affect the decision of qualification rendered to the book applied previously. (3) In the cases where either the textbook or the guide book for a subject becomes disqualified, such textbook and guide book shall be disqualified altogether. Article 11 (Public Notice of Granting Authorization) The Minister of Education, Science and Technology shall, upon deciding to grant authorization under Article 10, issue public notice of the following matters concerning the authorized book in the official gazette:

1. Title of the authorized book;

2. Date and number of the authorization;

3. Number of copies, book size, number of pages, type, volume, capacity and environment for application (limited to the case of audio records, visual and electronic works);

4. Paper quality and bookbinding method;

5. Schools that shall use the authorized book;

6. School year in which the authorized book shall be initially used;

7. Address and name of author; and

8. Address and name of publisher. Article 12 (Notice of Disqualification)

The Minister of Education, Science and Technology shall, upon deciding disqualification to an application for authorization, notify the applicant of details thereof including the reasons for such decision. Article 13 (Fee for Authorization)

(1) Any applicant for authorization shall pay the fee for authorization which the Minister of Education, Science and Technology determines by taking into account the number of pages, authorizing expense, price of book, etc., and which shall be publicly notified.

(2) The fee for authorization paid under paragraph (1) shall not be returned. Article 14 (Application for Approval of Book)

(1) In the cases where the use of approved books is deemed necessary at schools, the superintendent of the local educational office (in the case of high school, the principal) shall file an application for approval of books to be used as curriculum books at schools within his/her competent area, to the Minister of Education, Science and Technology not later than six months prior to the commencement date of the school year in which such approved book shall be used. (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in the cases where the approved books are intended to be used at national schools of all levels (excluding schools annexed to a national university or educational college), the principal of such schools shall file an application therefor (in the case of a public air and correspondence high school, the principal shall file an application via the Superintendent of educational affairs) to the Minister of Education, Science and Technology. (3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), in the cases where the approved books are intended to be used for the subjects determined by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology, the principals of the relevant schools may apply for approval thereof to the said Minister not later than three months before the commencement of the school year, subject to prior deliberation by a council composed of not less than three members designated or commissioned among teachers having a teacher's license as well as deliberation by the school operation committee: Provided, that in the case of public or private elementary schools and middle schools, the application for approval shall be filed via the superintendent of the competent local educational office.

Article 15 (Criteria for Approval)

The Minister of Education, Science and Technology shall, upon receiving application for approval under Article 14, determine the criteria for approval of the books concerned after undergoing deliberation by the curriculum books council under Article 18.

Article 16 (Granting Approval of Books)

(1) The Minister of Education, Science and Technology shall not undergo the deliberation by the curriculum books council under Article 18, in the case of receiving an application for approval under Article 14 (3): Provided, that he/she shall undergo deliberation by the curriculum books council if it is worried that the contents of the applied books may violate the basic democratic order or if it may support a particular political party or religion.

(2) The provisions of Articles 9, 10, 12 and 13 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the approval of books. In such cases, the term "authorization criteria under subparagraph 4 of Article 7 (1)" in the same Articles shall be regarded as "approval criteria under Article 15," and the term "authorization" as "approval" respectively. Article 17 (Scope of Use, Etc. of Approved Books) (1) In the cases where the Minister of Education, Science and Technology has approved the applied books under Article 16, the schools which have not applied for approval may also use the approved books without a separate application procedure.

(2) The principal of a school shall not use, as a substitute for the government-issued book or authorized book, the approved book which was granted approval for supplementing the government-issued book or authorized book.

(3) In the cases where the government-issued book or authorized book has become available after the approved book has begun to be used, or the circumstances have made it difficult to use the approved book any longer, such as change of curriculum, the Minister of Education, Science and Technology may revoke the approval of the concerned book. In such cases, the said Minister shall promptly notify the person (who was granted the approval) of such revocation. (4) The revocation under paragraph (3) shall take effect from the date on which one year has elapsed after such notification.

CHAPTER III CURRICULUM BOOKS COUNCIL, ETC.

Article 18 (Establishment of Curriculum Books Council) In order to deliberate on the matters on compilation, authorization, approval, assessment of prices, publication, etc. of curriculum books, councils for curriculum books (hereinafter referred to as the "Council") shall be established, by subject or by book for all levels of school, in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Article 19 (Organization of Council)

Each Council shall be composed of not less than five members, who shall be commissioned or appointed by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology among persons falling under any of the following subparagraphs:

1. Teachers;

2. Persons having research experience in industrial companies or research institutes;

3. Persons engaged in administrative agencies or educational research institutions;

4. Parents of students;

5. Persons recommended by civic organizations (referring to nonprofit NGOs under Article 2 of the Assistance for Nonprofit Non-Governmental Organizations Act; hereinafter the same shall apply);

6. Persons having expertise in publishing curriculum books;

7. Relevant experts belonging to price survey agencies or cost accounting agencies; and

8. Other persons with profound learning to the relevant subjects or books. Article 20 (Chairman, Etc.)

(1) Each Council shall have a chairman and a vice chairman, who shall be selected from the Council by mutual election.

(2) The chairman shall represent the Council and exercise overall control of the Council affairs.

(3) The vice chairman shall assist the chairman, and when the chairman is unable to perform his/her duties due to an inevitable cause, the vice chairman shall act on behalf of the chairman.

Article 21 (Meeting)

(1) Meetings of the Council shall convene by the chairman or by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology, and the chairman shall preside over the meeting.

(2) Meetings of the Council shall open with the attendance of a majority of registered members, and be resolved with the consenting votes of a majority of the members present: Provided that the meeting for authorization shall be resolved with the consenting vote of not less than two thirds of registered members. Article 22 (Secretary)

Each Council shall have a secretary in order to perform the Council affairs, who shall be appointed by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology among public officials belonging to the said Ministry. Article 23 (Research Members)

(1) In order to investigate and search for any error in contents, expressions or descriptions, and other matters requiring revision, from the curriculum books subject to authorization, the Council may have not more than three research members for each of the mentioned books.

(2) Research members shall be commissioned or appointed by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology among persons having professional knowledge on the books subject to authorization, and among public officials belonging to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Article 23-2 (Working Members)

(1) In order to investigate the capability of printing, bookbinding and publishing as referred to in Article 28, and to prepare the cost accounting protocol under Article 32 (2), the Council may have not more than 15 working members. (2) The working members under paragraph (1) shall be commissioned or appointed by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology among persons falling under any of the following subparagraphs:

1. Persons having professional knowledge concerning printing, publishing or cost accounting;

2. Persons engaged in the field of printing, publishing or cost accounting, who are recommended by the publisher of curriculum books; and

3. Public officials belonging to the Ministry of Education, Science and Education. [Newly Inserted Jun. 19, 2004]

Article 24 (Allowances, etc.)

Allowances and travel expenses may be paid to the members, research members, and working members of each Council within the limit of budget. Article 25 Deleted.

CHAPTER IV REVISION AND REORGANIZATION

Article 26 (Revision)

(1) The Minister of Education, Science and Technology may, when he/she deems it necessary to revise the contents of curriculum books, make such revision in the case of government-issued books, and order the authors or the publishers to make such revision in the case of authorized books. (2) The Minister of Education, Science and Technology who has approved the books under Article 16 may, when he/she deems after reviewing the contents of approved books that it is necessary to revise them, request the authors of approved books to revise them.

(3) Any person who compiles or publishes curriculum books shall observe the linguistic norms pursuant to Article 7 of the Culture and Arts Promotion Act. Article 27 (Reorganization)

The Minister of Education, Science and Technology may reorganize the government- issued books, when he/she deems that it is necessary to reorganize them.

CHAPTER V PUBLICATION

Article 28 (Selection of Publisher)

The Minister of Education, Science and Technology may select persons who are deemed to have capabilities in printing, bookbinding and publishing, as the publishers of the government-issued books.

Article 29 (Restriction, Etc. on Transfer of Publication Right) (1) The publishers of the authorized books shall not transfer their publication rights to other persons or furnish them as a security, without obtaining prior permission from the Minister of Education, Science and Technology. (2) In order to facilitate the smooth publication and supply of authorized books, the Minister of Education, Science and Technology may have the publishers of authorized books implement the printing and publication of authorized books jointly through mutual cooperation.

Article 30 (Order)

The principal of a school shall place orders with the publishers of curriculum books, or their agents, for the curriculum books to be used in the first semester not later than six months prior to the commencement of the semester, and for the curriculum books to be used in the second semester not later than four months prior to the commencement of the semester.

Article 31 (Supply)

The publishers shall manufacture curriculum books in accordance with the plans for their publication, and supply them to the orderer in a timely fashion so as not to cause any impediment to curriculum management: Provided, that if there occurs a natural disaster or other unavoidable causes similar thereto, they may have the publisher designated by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology supply the curriculum books.

CHAPTER VI PRICE ASSESSMENT

Article 32 (Price of Curriculum Book)

(1) The prices of curriculum books shall be assessed by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology: Provided, that prices of approved books shall be determined by the publishers who have agreements with the authors. (2) In assessing the price of curriculum books, the cost accounting protocol shall be prepared for each cost factor: Provided, that in the case of revision, price assessment may be made by applying the average price per page of the curriculum books that have already been published.

(3) The Minister of Education, Science and Technology may, when he/she deems it necessary, assess the prices of approved books, notwithstanding the proviso of paragraph (1).

Article 33 (Method of Price Determination)

(1) The price of curriculum books shall be the sum of the material cost, printing production cost (referring to reproducing production cost in the case of audio records and electronic works; hereinafter the same shall apply), general management cost, profit for publisher, royalty to author, R&D cost of publisher, supply fee and other costs: Provided, that in the case of government-issued books, royalties to authors shall be excluded. (2) Material cost and printing production cost shall be the amount obtained by multiplying the quantity by unit price, and the unit price shall be as per each of the following subparagraphs: Provided, that with regard to curriculum books for elementary and special schools that are published by persons who have been selected as publishers of government-issued books under Article 28, the prices calculated or surveyed as separately prescribed by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology by taking into account the number of published copies, etc. may be applied as the unit price:

1. The material cost shall be the lowest price from the average of publishers' purchase prices and the prices surveyed by the Administrator of the Public Procurement Service; and

2. Printing production cost shall be the standard rate for printing determined by the Administrator of the Public Procurement Service: Provided, that in the case that the standard rate determined by the Administrator of the Public Procurement Service is not available, or is difficult to be applied, the average of the prices surveyed or calculated by not less than two surveying agencies or cost accounting agencies which were established under the relevant laws, and for which one year has not elapsed from the date of survey or calculation, may be applied; and for the cases of typesetting cost and photoengraving cost among the printing costs, a premium rate may be applied within the limit of three times the standard rate determined by the Administrator of the Public Procurement Service by taking into account the special characteristics of the curriculum book.

(3) The general management cost shall be determined by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology, but shall not exceed 20 percent of the aggregate of material costs and printing production costs. (4) The profit for publishers shall be determined by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology, but shall not exceed 25 five percent of the aggregate of the printing production cost and general management cost. (5) The royalty to author shall be one ninth of the aggregate of the material cost, printing production cost, general management cost and profit for the publisher. (6) The R&D cost of publishers shall be determined by the Minister of Education, Science and Technology, but shall be within three percent of the aggregate of the material cost, printing production cost, and general management cost: Provided, that for the case of government-issued books, it shall be within 0.75 percent. (7) The supply fee shall be 1/16 of the aggregate of the material cost, printing production cost, general management cost, profit for publisher, royalty to author, R&D cost of publisher and other costs (in case of government-issued books, royalty to author shall be excluded), but in the case of curriculum books for elementary schools, the supply fee shall be 1/13.

(8) Other costs shall be the costs in each of the following subparagraphs:

1. In the case of government-issued books, the production cost of the copies which are presented to the Council's deliberation, on the condition that not more than three deliberations are made and not more than 25 copies are used for each deliberation;

2. In the case where disused curriculum books have been generated due to the revision or reorganization of textbooks, their production costs, on the condition that the copies of such disused books shall not exceed two percent of the copies published in the previous year;

3. In the case where any value added tax has been included in material costs and printing production costs under subparagraphs 1 and 2 of paragraph (2), such value added tax; and

4. Compensation amount for the works inserted in curriculum books, and incidental expenses for its computation and payment.

(9) In the case where there are any fixed costs, such as typesetting cost or photoengraving cost, which shall be involved in determining the unit price of the printing production cost under subparagraph 2 of paragraph (2), and which are disbursable continuously over two years or more for printing production once they have been put in the production process, such costs shall be computed by adding the interest which is derived from applying the interest rate on fixed deposit with one-year maturity at a commercial bank (in the case that the bank interest rate is changed during the computing period, or in the case such rates are different between banks, the average of interest rates used by banks of nationwide scales among the financial institutions operating under the Banking Act as of Jan. 1 of the particular year shall be applied), and dividing the fixed costs equally into the printing production cost of each year during the term of publication rights established on the curriculum books.

Article 34 (Calculation of Book Price)

The price for each book shall be calculated by the following formula: Price

Fixed price per book = ----------------------------------------- Number of copies published

Article 35 (Adjustment of Book Price)

(1) The Minister of Education, Science and Technology may, when he/she deems it necessary to maintain a balance among the prices of curriculum books, adjust the price per book under Article 34. (2) In the case of making adjustments under paragraph (1), it shall be made within the limit of the total amount computed by multiplying the book price by the number of published copies, for each publisher of curriculum books. Article 36 (Reassessment of Price)

(1) When it is deemed difficult to apply the prices of curriculum books publicly notified under Article 37 due to fluctuations in the commodity prices, etc., they may be reassessed. (2) Reassessment of the prices under paragraph (1) shall be conducted by computing the fluctuation rate of the prices of curriculum books selected as samples for this purpose, and then multiplying the publicly notified prices of all the curriculum books by such fluctuation rate.

(3) Samples referred to in paragraph (2) shall be selected in not less than one fifth of the total number of curriculum books, taking into account the publishers, number of published copies, book size, number of pages per book, and increased or decreased number of published copies compared to the previous period. (4) The fluctuation rate under paragraph (2) shall be computed down to three decimal places, by reassessing book prices for each cost factor under Article 33 of the curriculum books selected as samples, and then dividing the total sum (obtained by multiplying the reassessed book price by the number of published copies in the pertaining year) by the original total sum (obtained from multiplying the publicly notified prices of sample books by the number of published copies in the year).

Article 37 (Public Notice of Book Prices)

The Minister of Education, Science and Technology shall, upon deciding or reassessing the prices of government-issued books and authorized books, issue public notice of such prices, in particular the price of each book, in the official gazette.

CHAPTER VII SUPERVISION

Article 38 (Revocation, Etc. of Authorization)

The Minister of Education, Science and Technology may, when the authorized books have fallen under one of the following subparagraphs, revoke the authorization or suspend their publication within the limit of one year, and order the author of the book concerned to change its publication right:

1. When the author or publisher has violated this Decree or any order issued under this Decree;

2. When the contents, structure, paper quality, etc. of a book deviate from those authorized;

3. When the name of author printed in a book is different from the author at the time of authorization; and

4. When other serious causes have occurred making it difficult to keep a book as an authorized book.

Article 39 (Hearing)

The Minister of Education, Science and Technology shall, when intending to make a disposition falling under any of the following subparagraphs, hold a hearing:

1. Revocation of approval granted to curriculum books under Article 17 (3); and

2. Revocation of authorization granted to curriculum books under Article 38. CHAPTER VIII DELEGATION OFAUTHORITIES

Article 40 (Delegation, Etc. of Authorities)

(1) The Minister of Education, Science and Technology shall delegate the authorities falling under each of the following subparagraphs, among those retained by the said Minister on curriculum books under Article 29 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, to the Superintendent of educational affairs pursuant to Article 62 of the same Act:

1. Approval of curriculum books for use at all levels of schools under Article 14 (1) and (3) and Article 16;

2. Determination of criteria under Article 15 for approval of books by the Superintendent of educational affairs under subparagraph 1;

3. Revocation of approval under Article 17 (3) for curriculum books approved by the Superintendent of educational affairs under subparagraph 1;

4. Request for revision of contents under Article 26 (2) for curriculum books approved by the Superintendent of educational affairs under subparagraph 1;

5. Assessment of price under Article 32 (3) for curriculum books approved by the Superintendent of educational affairs under subparagraph 1; and

6. Holding of hearings under subparagraph 1 of Article 39 on revocation dispositions made by the Superintendent of educational affairs under subparagraph 3. (2) The Superintendent of educational affairs shall, when he/she grants approval for curriculum books under subparagraph 1 of paragraph (1), report thereon once a year to the Minister of Education, Science and Technology. (3) The council on approved books shall be formed in each local educational office of the Special Metropolitan City, Metropolitan Cities and Dos, in order to deliberate matters related to approval of curriculum books which has been delegated to the Superintendent of educational affairs under paragraph (1). In such cases, matters necessary for the organization and operation, etc. of the council on approved books shall be prescribed by the educational regulations.

ADDENDA (Office Organization of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and the agencies belonging to the Ministry) Article 1 (Enforcement Date)

This Decree shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation. Articles 2 through 6 Omitted.

Article 7 (Amendment of Other Laws and Regulations) through Omitted.

Rules on the Curriculum Books shall be partly amended as follows: The term "Minister of Education and Human Resources" in subparagraph 4 of Article 2, main part of Article 5, Articles 18, 22, 23 (2) and subparagraph 3 of Article 23-2 shall be amended to "Minister of Education, Science and Technology." The term "Minister of Education and Human Resources" in subparagraphs 5 and 6 of Article 2, Article 4, proviso to Article 5, Articles 6 and 7 (1) (parts other than each subparagraph), Articles 9 (4), 10 (1), 11 (parts other than each subparagraph), 21 (1), 22, 23 (2) (parts other than each subparagraph), Article 26 (1) and (2), Articles 27, 28, 29 (1) and (2), the proviso to Article 31, main part of Article 32 (1), 32 (3), 33 (2) (proviso to parts other than each subparagraph), Article 33 (3), (4) and main part of (6), Articles 35 (1), 37, 38 (parts other than each subparagraph), 39 (parts other than each subparagraph), 40 (1) (parts other than each subparagraph) and (2) shall be amended to "Minister of Education, Science and Technology."

through <102> Omitted.