The government plans to abolish current criteria limiting the amount of time students can use digital textbooks in classrooms, beginning with the next school year starting in April.
Current guidelines state that digital textbooks, which display the contents of paper textbooks on tablets and other devices, can only be used in less than half of classroom periods in each subject.
The education ministry presented a draft proposal to a panel of experts on Tuesday that includes abolishing the limitation.
Based on the opinions of the experts, the ministry intends to revise the notification that sets the criteria by the end of this school year, and put the new policy into effect starting April 2021.
The draft proposal states that in regard to the current criteria, abolition is appropriate in order to further enhance the learning of students. It also says removing such limitations is aimed at creating an environment in which digital textbooks can be used effectively.
The proposal, however, points out that such a revision does not imply that digital textbooks must be used for more than half of classroom periods.
In line with eliminating the standards, the draft specifies measures to deal with health issues and other matters. These include resting the eyes for 20 seconds once every 30 minutes; maintaining a distance of at least 30 centimeters between the eyes and the terminal; and reducing reflection from the device screen.
In addition, the draft states that teachers are required to monitor the health of students and provide guidance based on such observations.
Digital textbooks were allowed to be used in combination with paper textbooks in elementary, junior high, and high schools starting from the 2019 school year.
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