On the Brink of Losing Billions Due to Opaque Evaluation Criteria... Digital Textbook Developer 'Baldongdong'

Multiple Companies Massively Fail First Round Screening
Results and Evaluation Criteria Not Disclosed... Appeals Cause Confusion

As the government conducts evaluations for the AI digital textbooks to be introduced next year, participating companies are unable to hide their bewilderment. Most companies failed the first round of certification evaluation due to the lack of clear evaluation criteria. Although the government is accepting appeals from the failed companies, those unaware of the evaluation standards face the risk of losing tens of billions of won in development costs.

According to the education and IT industries on the 17th, companies that failed the first main evaluation of digital textbooks must submit their appeals by the 23rd. A total of 146 types of evaluation copies were submitted for the digital textbook certification. The first round results were announced on the 23rd of last month, and it is reported that many companies were eliminated. The final announcement of successful candidates for the digital textbook certification evaluation is scheduled to be posted on November 29 after the appeal process.

On the 23rd, visitors are touring booths at the 2024 EduTech Korea Fair held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The problem arose because the Ministry of Education and the certification agencies only individually notified the companies of their failure without disclosing any inspection results or evaluation criteria. Companies are raising their voices about the lack of transparency in the digital textbook evaluation standards. Even though the failed companies want to file appeals, they do not know specifically which parts were insufficient leading to their failure, nor do they know which companies were selected and why. For paper textbooks, the content of the curriculum is the top priority. However, for digital textbooks, the evaluation includes not only curriculum content but also technical aspects such as personal information security, compatibility with on-site digital devices, and whether students can easily utilize AI functions.

A representative from Company A, which failed the evaluation, said, “We specialize in AI research and development, so we were confident in the technical aspects,” adding, “We received the evaluation results but do not know which parts were lacking, so we are deeply concerned internally ahead of the appeal submission.”

Another representative from Company B, also failed, stated, “I understand that companies that have been successful in traditional textbook businesses or those strong in AI all failed,” and added, “Meanwhile, companies with less expertise in AI reportedly passed, raising doubts about whether the technical evaluation was properly conducted.”

Compared to the 8-month certification period for printed textbooks, the digital textbook certification period was only 3 months. Despite the many factors to consider such as technical evaluation, companies have voiced complaints about the short certification period. In response, the Ministry of Education argued that the certification period is relatively short because the number of textbooks subject to certification is smaller than that for printed textbooks.

In this situation, digital textbook developers face the risk of losing tens of billions of won in development costs. Developing a single digital textbook subject requires tens of billions of won, and if the certification is not passed, it will be difficult to utilize the digital textbook. A representative from Company C, which failed, explained, “Companies with a certain scale and experience in education businesses may feel less impact from failure,” but “those focused solely on digital textbook development will lose tens of billions of won if they fail.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education plans to introduce digital textbooks for students in grades 3 and 4 of elementary school, grade 1 of middle school, and grade 1 of high school starting March next year. Digital textbooks will first be introduced in subjects such as Mathematics, English, Information, and Korean (special education), and will be gradually applied to all subjects including Korean, Social Studies, and Science by 2028. The Ministry is considering running paper and digital textbooks concurrently for three years from 2025, then fully switching to digital textbooks from 2028.