Admissions Officer System Under Fire
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
The admissions officer system, the backbone of the current administration's education reform policy, is facing grave worries over its effectiveness, following the revelation of possible irregularities.
Police are now investigating these, and if any of them prove to be true, this could deal a major blow to the overall reform drive.
Officers are investigating allegations that some students aspiring to enter colleges and universities enlisted the help of paid consultants, who completed their application packages including cover letters. Police believe that admissions officers had failed to detect them.
The government has touted that admissions officers judge the abilities of applicants better than college scholastic ability tests, thus freeing students from the pressure of taking exams and providing a better chance for low-income students to gain admission.
Even before the introduction of the system last year, experts worried about the possibility of portfolios being completed with the help of consultants and officers taking bribes.
Korean universities used to recruit students based entirely on academic scores, but the government has pushed for colleges to give more weight to students' potential in order to relax the high private education costs burdening many families.
Jongno Police Station received tips that some students had paid consultants to prepare their portfolios, according to officers Thursday.
It delivered lists of students suspected of submitting "compromised" documents to universities. In response, the Korea Council for University Education ㅡ comprised of presidents from 200 four-year universities ㅡ which supervises the college admission process, asked each university to report on the matter.
The police probe came after President Lee Myung-bak recently called for a war against corruption in education. Police say they heard from a variety of sources that "many" students had submitted such false portfolios.
However, they didn't comment on whether they have secured concrete proof when asked by The Korea Times. They also didn't state whether they are expanding their investigation.
Universities are currently increasing the number of students admitted by admissions officers, with the government providing more financial aid to those adopting the system.
The government has increased funding to 35 billion won this year from 23.6 billion last year, 15.3 billion won in 2008 and 2 billion won in 2007.
Last year, the number of students recruited by admission officers was 4,000, but next year, a total of 37,000 such students are expected to be recruited. Some 10 percent of the total college admission quota will be filled by students through the system.
The number of universities adopting the system has increased to 118 schools from 41 in 2009. This year 90 universities will admit 24,622 students through it.
However, many critics say universities need to hire a greater number of qualified admissions officers and establish more specific guidelines for the system.