Exam Time in ROK

As my husband and I were running late driving hurriedly to school, we encountered massive traffic around the public school near our campus.  Cars were parked everywhere.  People were lining the streets. Signs were being held up.  At times you can hear people chanting.  This could only mean one thing...it was exam day in Korea.

It was then that I remembered that at the beginning of this past school week we were told during a staff meeting that we needed to be extra quiet on campus on Thursday morning because the annual Korean exams would be this week.  In many places this would seem like an odd request, but if you live in South Korea you know that every year that the entire country seems to stop for these exams.  The Collage Scholastic Ability Test is given to high school seniors in Korea and it culminates all of their YEARS of studying up until that point.  This is the one exam that a high school student's entire future rests upon (I'm not really exaggerating).  The test scores determine where students will go to college, which is especially important in this country considering 80% of the population attends higher education.

There are many things I disagree with about this test and the process leading up to it.  For one, much of the exam is based on rote memorization, rather than student understanding.  Additionally, there is so much pressure put on these students to perform it takes the joy out of the learning process and it also has led to to high suicide rates within the country.  And lastly, can you really base someones' abilities and worth on one test score?!

All that being said, part of me admires a country that really sacrifices so much for the sake of education.  I can't argue with the passion I see in Koreas to succeed and perform well, not only for themselves, but for their family and their nation.

Some of my information came from this article.  Check it out for more information: South Korean students' 'year of hell' culminates with exam day.