Around 30% of South Korean elementary schools use AI textbooks

SEOUL - Government data on March 20 showed that around 30 per cent of elementary schools in South Korea are using

digital textbooks backed by artificial intelligence (AI)

within their first year of introduction, with a comparably smaller number of middle and high schools using them.

Of the 6,339 elementary schools

across the country

, 1,843 (29.1 per cent) have adopted the AI textbooks for third-grade English, while 1,813 schools (28.6 per cent) use them for third-grade maths, according to Ministry of Education data submitted to Representative Baek Seung-a of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.

For fourth-grade English and maths, the selection rates were 29.6 per cent and 29.2 per cent, respectively.

The AI textbooks, introduced to public education for the first time in the 2025 academic year starting in March, are available for subjects of English, maths and computer informatics – referring to IT and computer education – in the third and fourth grades of elementary school, the first year of middle school, and the first year of high school. Use of the AI textbooks is optional.

This is the first leg of a plan to gradually introduce AI textbooks to all grades across most compulsory subjects by 2028, except for art, music, physical education and ethics.

For middle schools, 26.9 per cent of schools across the country have adopted AI textbooks for first-year English, while 26.1 per cent use them for first-year maths. Some 24.4 percent of high schools use AI textbooks for first-year English, while 23.8 per cent selected them for maths, the ministry data showed.

Of the 11,932 schools nationwide, 3,870 (32.4 per cent) have chosen to use textbooks in at least one of the three subjects.

Scepticism about AI textbooks

Introducing AI-based digital textbooks has been one of the key education policies of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, but it has faced criticism over what some say is insufficient infrastructure and teacher training.

A Dec 17, 2024, survey by the Korean Teachers & Educational Worker’s Union of 2,626 teachers showed that 98.5 per cent of the respondents felt that the level of training provided for teachers by the ministry was not enough for the March introduction of the AI textbooks.

The usage rate of AI textbooks varies greatly depending on the region. In Daegu, 98 per cent of the schools are using AI textbooks for at least one subject.

In comparison, only 8 per cent of schools in Sejong, 9 per cent of those in South Jeolla province and 12 per cent of Gwangju schools are using AI textbooks.

Some suspect that the AI textbook adoption, as it is the conservative administration’s key education policy, is closely linked to the ideological divide in the country. Daegu is a known conservative stronghold – in which President Yoon garnered 75.34 per cent of the votes in the presidential election – while Gwangju and Jeolla provinces are vote pockets for liberal factions.

Data shows that this is not necessarily the case for all regions, as pro-conservative South Gyeongsang province recorded only 10 per cent usage rate, while North Gyeongsang had a 45 per cent usage rate. Schools in the Jeolla provinces generally tended to use AI textbooks sparingly, but 21 per cent of North Jeolla Province schools were found to be using AI textbooks. THE KOREA HERALD/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK