The Ministry of Education has set up a team to conduct a thorough investigation into textbook illustrations published by the People's Education Press after the illustrations were deemed ugly and inappropriate by netizens on social media, it said in a statement on Monday night.

Any problems found will be corrected immediately, and if any are found, the people involved will be dealt with seriously, the statement said.

The findings of the investigation will be released to the public in a timely manner.

The ministry will also conduct a complete overhaul of textbooks used at all school levels and deal with any issues and violations accordingly, it added.

The cartoon illustrations in math textbooks used by primary school students caused public uproar after they were posted by netizens last week.

Critics said the images of the students had small eyes, weird facial expressions and smiles, and some appeared to have tattoos. Others made inappropriate gestures, and readers could even see the shape of male private parts through the pants of the illustrated boys.

The ministry has asked the publisher to redo the illustrations and make sure new textbooks are offered to students before the start of the new semester in September.

The People's Education Press also apologized and expressed remorse for the illustrations. It said it would organize new expert teams to redo the illustrations.