Teachers to advise on entrance exams

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Teachers to advise on entrance exams

Starting this year, high school teachers will participate in drafting questions in mathematics administered by some universities as part of their admission criteria.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said yesterday that in an effort to prevent a situation in which students were given math questions that would require a college-level education, high school teachers will take part in drafting the questions, working as advisers.

In a joint effort with the Korean Council for University Education, the ministry will also mandate colleges publicly release their questions by the end of March, once the admission process is complete.

The Education Ministry said those teachers participating on university panels in charge of selecting questions will advise and assist institution officials in writing questions with an appropriate level of difficulty.

Concern among parents and students has grown in recent years that the difficulty of tests prepared by some schools in Seoul are unrealistically high, prompting them to seek private tutors at a high cost.

The ministry also recommends higher-education schools avoid using complex terms originating from foreign languages such as English for essay tests in humanities.

The decision by the Education Ministry follows a study done by a Korean civic group on education called, “World without Worries about Private Education.”

The organization said Monday that more than half, 46 out of 84, of the questions on tests in mathematics administered by 10 universities last year in Seoul require college-level knowledge on the subject.

“It is true that the difficulty of tests has become too high,” said Park Jin-hoon, who teaches at Korea University High School.

“Both universities and high schools need to find common ground in that regard, and I think having high school teachers on the question-making panel is the best option for that.”

For next year’s college admission, 23 education institutions in the country will select a total of 6,483 students through administering tests in mathematics.

By Kang Jin-kyu, Sung Si-yoon [jkkang2@joongang.co.kr]
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