&#91EDITORIALS&#93Count the decimals

Concern over the scoring system the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development uses for the College Scholastic Ability Test has finally become reality. A court ruled in favor of a student who claimed that he had been unfairly dropped in the first stage of the entrance application process to Seoul National University because the ministry had rounded off the decimal points from his scores. The ruling will cause complications for the 25 universities and colleges, including Seoul National University, that had admitted their students according to the rounded-off grades. Similar lawsuits from more students and parents are expected.

Until now the Education Ministry's Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation has rounded off the decimal points from the grades in each section of the test and provided these grades to the schools. The court, although not denouncing the rounding-off system outright, made it clear that the grade that should count in the end is the original grade that the student received. The decision also means that any rejections due to rounded-off grades will be canceled, at least until any further rulings on the scoring system.

The student who filed the lawsuit will now be able to attend the second stage of the entrance test for Seoul National University unless the school appeals. It is estimated that many students are in similar circumstances. The Education Ministry should quickly provide a way for these students to be redeemed. Yet it claims that nothing is wrong because the schools knew that the test grades they were given were rounded off. The ministry announced that it would consider revising the system after this year's entrance is finished. This irresponsible attitude shows a lack of understanding of how serious this problem is.

It is only right that the institute send the original grades to the schools that have not finished their admission process, and that the schools admit students who could have been accepted had their grades not been rounded off. Otherwise there will be no stopping all the lawsuits and protests that will issue. It is far more educational to redeem the innocent students who have been unfairly treated.