By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporer
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) plans to the reintroduce English essay test as one of admission requirements from this year.
Universities have been barred from using the essay tests as the government was concerned over rising private education costs.
HUFS, specializing in foreign studies, used the writing test in English and other languages for admissions in 2005 and the Ministry of Education and Human Resources warned the school against violating the regulation. The school lost one point in an assessment for getting a license for the establishment of a law school due to the warning by the ministry.
However, President-elect Lee Myung-bak has pledged that the incoming government will allow universities to pick students based on their own discretion. Capitalizing on the liberalization move, the Korean Council for University Education, a group of university presidents, has recently demanded regulations restricting schools’ selection of students should be eased.
HUFS President Park Chul recently said that the school will reintroduce the essay writing test in foreign languages to attract students talented in languages.
``We will diversify the admission test to recruit students with excellent foreign language skills,’’ Park said.
Under the plan, HUFS will receive applicants from students recommended by principals of their schools and test them with essay tests in foreign languages, said Shin Hyung-wook, an administration officer at the school.
Also, HUFS will evaluate the school hopefuls using the English certificate test such as TOEIC, TOEFL and Foreign Language Examination (FLEX) tests, developed by the school.
Other schools are likely to consider introducing English essay tests in their selection of students.