By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

The government plans to develop a new English proficiency test to replace the current one used for college entrance by 2013.

Education, Science and Technology Minister Ahn Byong-man said the new test would be designed to help cut private cram school costs.

Ahn said it will be modeled on Japan’s state-administrated ``Eiken Test in Practical English Proficiency’’ which rates the levels of test takers from grade 1 (university level) to grade 5 (junior high beginner).

The test will be in two sections ― the first will test reading, listening and writing skills and the second, speaking skills through interviews.

``The new test will help reduce private cram school costs as students will be evaluated in different levels, not by scores,’’ the minister said.

According to the government, some 15 trillion won ($11 billion) is spent annually on private English education.

However, the initial reaction from universities and parents was far from enthusiastic. ``When we assess students, a test result which tells only `pass' or `fail' is not very helpful,’’ a university admissions official in Seoul said.

College admission specialists at cram schools say private education costs might increase if students can apply to take the English test as many times as they want to.

In addition, some universities plan to have their own English language tests to precisely evaluate students’ English skills. Hence, in the worst case, students have to prepare for not only the new English test but also the tests held by each university.

``If the government introduces the English certificate system, the weighting of English could fall for college admission,’’ said Lee Young-deok, a college admission specialist at Daesung Hagwon, one of the major cram schools.

English education professors say the government must come up with more specific guidelines about the new test to reduce confusion at schools.

``The government has announced plans to introduce new English proficiency tests. But nothing has been fixed,’’ said Seoul National University’s English Education Prof. Lee Byung-min. ``Taking into consideration what has been announced, I doubt that the new test will be effective in evaluating students’ English proficiency accurately.’’

kswho@koreatimes.co.kr