[Photo] Plan to use Chinese characters in elementary school textbooks shelved

A policy to begin using Chinese characters in elementary school textbooks by 2019 that was adopted under the Park Geun-hye administration is no longer under consideration. On Jan. 9, the Office of Education announced that, “After conducting a suitability study and gathering the opinions of the public at the end of last year, we decided not to follow through with this proposal.” The previous government had placed added importance on learning Chinese characters from a young age, but the proposed change spurred a fierce backlash from both parents and educators across the country.