College entrance exam delay causes stir

By Kim Bo-eun

Students, parents and private academies were taken aback by the education ministry’s Wednesday announcement it would delay the college scholastic aptitude test (CSAT) following the 5.4-magnitude quake in the southeastern city of Pohang the same day.

The test had been scheduled for Thursday, but was pushed back a week due to safety reasons.

It is the first time the CSAT has been delayed abruptly due to a natural phenomenon, since the test started being administered in 1993.

“The entire college entrance procedure will be pushed back by a week,” Vice Minister of Education Park Chun-ran said in a briefing on follow-up measures at the Sejong Government Complex on Thursday.

The vice minister said the ministry will ensure security of test papers and answer sheets. It will also conduct safety checks of nationwide test sites and find new ones to replace those in Pohang affected by the quake, Park said.

Students _ who had been set to be released from intensive studies for the CSAT _ returned to private academies and libraries to make the most of the remaining week.

Some went to retrieve workbooks they had thrown away a day before the originally scheduled test, reports said.

Private academies said they are figuring out how to deal with the situation.

“We have put the 26 heads of nationwide branches on emergency standby mode, and assembled all heads of branches in Seoul and surrounding cities at the headquarters,” Jongro Academy said in a statement.

“We have decided all heads of branches, as well as executives and staff members, will clear their schedules including trips that were set for after the CSAT.”

Calls from parents have been flooding in, according to the academy.

It said it will announce what the academy will provide for students during the one-week period after holding meetings.

Another private academy Megastudy said it will provide free classes during the week leading up to the CSAT.

The state-run educational broadcasting system said it would reorganize programs so students are able to access CSAT-related classes during the one-week period.

Other reports stated some students had to cancel cosmetic surgeries they had reserved for after the CSAT, while a test-taker in the military who was set to get a day of vacation to take the CSAT had to reschedule.

Korean Air said it will not collect fees for changing or canceling reservations from test-takers and their family members during the one-week period.