By Jung Hae-myoung
Public opinion that the current college entrance system does not guarantee fair competition, is growing, while people are becoming more distrustful of schools' academic records and other evaluations.
This sentiment has increased after an exam leak scandal in which a teacher at Sookmyung Girls' High School stole exam papers for his twin daughters attending the same school.
According to a poll conducted by Realmeter at the request of a parents' group in April, 50.8 percent of 1,001 people aged over 19 said admission wholly dependent on school records should be abolished or hold less weight in college entrance admission.
More than half of the respondents also said the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) result should take a large portion in the admission system.
In the college admission process, the ratio of schools evaluating school records and other non-academic achievements rather than the CSAT result has increased since 2006, according to a 2016 report by Korean Council for University Education. For the 2019 school year, 76.6 percent of students will be selected through such evaluations without much emphasis on the CSAT.
The evaluation system was originally introduced to help students avoid rote learning and encourage them to become more creative and show their talent in specific fields.
But the fairness of the evaluation has been questioned for long, and the Sookmyung case showed it can be unfair.
Besides that case, some teachers have been punished for showing exam papers to acquaintances connected to the same school.
In 2016, an English teacher at a high school in Incheon was booked for revealing exam questions to a cousin who was attending the same school as a student. A similar incident happened in Gwangju, in which a teacher gave midterm and final exam papers to a parent.
Some also say the non-academic achievements are decided according to the parents' wealth rather than the students' ability _ wealthy parents can chauffeur their children to do community service, prepare carefully a selected booklist for them, and provide expensive private lessons that some students cannot afford.
Consistent and similar petitions have been posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website to demand the government abolish the school records-based admission system and instead expand the ratio of the CSAT, and strictly monitor grading at schools.
"The CSAT may not be the best admission system. But it is a start for a fair society," a petitioner wrote.
Earlier in August, the Presidential Committee on National Education released a college admission system reform guideline and proposed an expanded ratio of the CSAT.
Public opinion that the current college entrance system does not guarantee fair competition, is growing, while people are becoming more distrustful of schools' academic records and other evaluations.
This sentiment has increased after an exam leak scandal in which a teacher at Sookmyung Girls' High School stole exam papers for his twin daughters attending the same school.
According to a poll conducted by Realmeter at the request of a parents' group in April, 50.8 percent of 1,001 people aged over 19 said admission wholly dependent on school records should be abolished or hold less weight in college entrance admission.
More than half of the respondents also said the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) result should take a large portion in the admission system.
In the college admission process, the ratio of schools evaluating school records and other non-academic achievements rather than the CSAT result has increased since 2006, according to a 2016 report by Korean Council for University Education. For the 2019 school year, 76.6 percent of students will be selected through such evaluations without much emphasis on the CSAT.
The evaluation system was originally introduced to help students avoid rote learning and encourage them to become more creative and show their talent in specific fields.
But the fairness of the evaluation has been questioned for long, and the Sookmyung case showed it can be unfair.
Besides that case, some teachers have been punished for showing exam papers to acquaintances connected to the same school.
In 2016, an English teacher at a high school in Incheon was booked for revealing exam questions to a cousin who was attending the same school as a student. A similar incident happened in Gwangju, in which a teacher gave midterm and final exam papers to a parent.
Some also say the non-academic achievements are decided according to the parents' wealth rather than the students' ability _ wealthy parents can chauffeur their children to do community service, prepare carefully a selected booklist for them, and provide expensive private lessons that some students cannot afford.
Consistent and similar petitions have been posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website to demand the government abolish the school records-based admission system and instead expand the ratio of the CSAT, and strictly monitor grading at schools.
"The CSAT may not be the best admission system. But it is a start for a fair society," a petitioner wrote.
Earlier in August, the Presidential Committee on National Education released a college admission system reform guideline and proposed an expanded ratio of the CSAT.
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