Students speak out
on exam stress
For
Kim Yae-jin, Thursday, Nov. 18 was an important day ¡ª
perhaps one of the most important of her life. Along with around 712,000 other
high school students, the 18-year-old took the College Scholastic Ability Test, or ¡°Suneung¡± in Korean.
The
results of the 9-hour, single-day exam will determine which university she, and
thousands like her, goes to. It will also greatly affect her future career and
salary. In a country which has the world¡¯s highest proportion of 18 to
34-year-olds enrolled in college, many large companies prefer to employ
graduates from prestigious universities such as Yonsei
University, Korea University and Seoul National University.
¡°I
want to major in hotel management,¡± said Yae-Jin, who
lives in Daegu, the week before the exam. ¡°I am
hoping for more than 90 percent.¡±
Yae-jin, like most
students preparing for the CSAT, routinely would study from early morning until
midnight or later with just a few hours break in between. Many attend private
cram schools, or in ¡°hagwon¡± in Korean, well outside
of regular school hours.
With
such punishing schedules and so much at stake, stress on students can be
overwhelming. Every year, the pressure surrounding the exam is blamed for a
number of student suicides. One survey by the Korea Youth Counseling Institute
suggested that up to 48 percent of students have contemplated suicide. Yae-jin believes the stress is too much.
¡°I
wish schools would let us be less stressed, because they are giving us too much
work,¡± she said.
¡°I
think school has to give students less homework and study less at school. In
Korea ... we spend most of our time at school and we study for very long
periods so I think, yeah, every student is very stressed about the exam.¡±
Lim
Sang-hoon, 18, from Seongnam
Gyeonggi Province agrees.
¡°Korean
society is making high school seniors crazy,¡± he said. ¡°They think the entrance
exam determines our future.¡±
Indeed,
the Ministry of Education acknowledges that students are under intense
pressure. ¡°We recognize that Korea SAT is a heavy burden on our students,¡± said
a spokesman for the ministry, ¡°so our ministry has
researched CSAT reformation since last year. This reformation is to reduce the
weight of CSAT as an element of the university admission process.¡±
Among
the reforms being considered is to give students who think they did badly a
chance to re-sit the exam two weeks later. Another possibility is to offer an
easier, lower level option in subjects such Korean and English along with a
higher option, something already provided for in mathematics. The changes could
come into effect by 2013, according to the ministry.
But
not every student feels the same pressure over the exam, which every year sees
flights rerouted away from exam centers and workers told to start later to
reduce traffic that could hold up students. Kim Kwan-woo, from Seoul, wants to study history at Korea University or Yonsei and then study law in the U.K. For him, music was a
great stress reliever.
¡°In
my case, I played rock music with my band every Saturday and Sunday. We all get
pressure and feel anxiety, but we have something which erases the anxiety for
the exam,¡± he said.
Kwan-woo¡¯s weekday study routine in the run up to the exam began
at 6.30 a.m. when he arrived at school and would finish at 11.30 p.m. when he
got home. During that time he usually took just three hours off to eat and
relax. But despite his rigorous schedule, Kim said he has been too relaxed
about the CSAT.
¡°I
do not get stress or pressure. It is not always a positive thing because I also
do not have volition to study much,¡± he said a few days before Thurday¡¯s exam.
Although
in recent years some colleges have introduced alternate admission methods, such
as interviews and essays, CSAT scores remain the most important criterion for
admission.
Yae-jin is adamant that
this emphasis on one exam and one day is unfair.
¡°Rather
than the students¡¯ scores, they have to see their personalities or other
things, not only their scores,¡± she said.
Kwan-woo,
on the other hand, thinks the test is a fair way of
assessing students¡¯ level of knowledge. He said that having college lecturers
with students of a similar standard is important.
¡°For
instance, Korean high school is a good case of a contradiction where high and
low level students take the same lectures. Unlike the USA or other foreign
schools, Korean teachers cannot give attention to every student because there
are too many students in one class - on average 40 to 45. So if that situation
continues to university, it is harmful for everyone. Nobody can get
satisfaction.¡±
But
Kwan-woo agrees that too much importance is placed on
education in Korea ¡ª especially on the name and reputation of a university.
¡°Because in Korea, the name of the
graduated university represents 80 percent of the man. Whether
one¡¯s personality or ability is good, it does not much matter,¡± he said.
¡°The
university where you graduated from is the most important thing.¡±
The
Source: The Korea Herald