Global Courant
SEOUL — South Korea will scrap so-called “killer questions” from its notoriously tough college entrance exam in a bid to reduce reliance on private cram schools, the education ministry said Tuesday.
More than half a million students take the annual nine-hour test known as “suneung,” which plays a vital role in determining a student’s college, career, and even marriage prospects.
The inclusion of “killer questions,” which cannot be answered by simply studying the curriculum in public schools, was intended to help distinguish top students.
But it has sparked an arms race of extra education spending as parents and students flock to expensive private tutoring centers known as “hagwons” to get ahead.
“I will do everything I can in my capacity as education minister… to exclude questions outside the public education system so that the test is fair,” education minister Lee Ju-ho said Monday.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education told AFP it would go ahead with the reform, saying it was “sticking” to Mr Lee’s comment.
Previous attempts to change the system have failed, including an attempt in 2023 to remove “killer questions” from the mock exam.
The importance of the test is reflected in extraordinary measures taken by authorities to avoid disruptions, including suspending take-offs and landings at airports during the English listening test.
The enormous pressure on students in South Korea’s ultra-competitive education system has been attributed to teenage depression and suicide rates that are among the highest in the world.
Mr Lee said officials should “think about themselves” as they previously failed to address the difficulty of the test, which he called the “driving force” behind the explosive growth in private education.
As the government watched, the pockets of the gag schools “got thicker,” he added.
According to Statistics Korea, South Korean households will spend more than US$20 billion (S$27 billion) on private education for primary, middle and high school students by 2022.
The figure translates to a monthly average spending of US$320 per student. AFP
