By Bahk Eun-ji
On top of grades, students at Chosun University will have to achieve specific scores on the TOEIC test to be eligible for scholarships, a measure that the school said on Thursday is designed to encourage students to be competitive in the job market.
Beginning in 2014, the new rule will be applied to new entrants to the university located in Gwangju. Hence, current students or those who enter it next year will not be affected by it.
“After researching the alumni’s career path who was granted scholarship, we learned that only 15 percent of students found jobs at companies related to their major. We concluded that they could not get decent jobs despite their outstanding qualities due to their lack of English proficiency,” the school said in a statement.
Sophomores will have to get more than 400 points and the benchmark is 500 points for juniors and 600 points for senior students on the TOEIC test to gain scholarships.
Students and professors are divided over the new system.
“I understand the school’s decision because the employment rate of students is one of the main criteria of a school’s evaluation, but it is too naïve to think that TOEIC scores alone will decide the students’ employment,” said a Chosun University student who only wants to go by her surname Cho.
Cho said it is somewhat irrational that some outstanding students majoring in Korean history or Korean literature will not be able to get scholarships simply because they do not meet the TOEIC score requirements.
“Let’s say who will continue to study Korean history of Korean literature at post-graduate schools will be forced to take TOEIC tests to simply get scholarships. I think it is waste of time and money,” Cho said.