Seoul gov’t announces guidelines before Thursday’s CSAT

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced special traffic measures on Tuesday to better accommodate the students who will be taking the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) on Thursday.

According to the city government, it will operate more buses and subway trains, while the Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters will organize an emergency team consisting of 220 cars on Thursday to take students who may be late for the exam.

From 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., additional buses and 28 additional subway trains will operate and 178 safety guards will be placed at every subway stations in case of subway troubles or delays.

Approximately 140,000 students in Seoul are scheduled to take the test.

Furthermore, 13,000 more individually owned taxis will be allowed to run from 4 a.m. until noon; 986 cars, including vehicles owned by district offices and community service centers, as well as individually owned and corporate taxis will be placed near subway stations on emergency standby for late students.

Students should arrive at their test sites by 8:10 a.m. and the CSAT will start at 8:40 a.m.

Students with disabilities will be able to take call-taxis by priority by calling 1588-4388. The city government recommends students use public transportation, as cars will not be allowed to enter the areas near testing sites.

Students must attend the preliminary call today to receive test identification slips and check their assigned testing seat.

It is prohibited to enter examination rooms with electronic devices such as mobile phones, mp3 players, electronic dictionaries, electronic calculators, digital cameras and smart watches. Students who bring electronic devices must hand them to their exam supervisors before the first section of the test starts. Anyone caught violating the rules will have their test scores invalidated.

Only IDs, test identification slips, pens, pencils, erasers and ordinary watches will be allowed on desks during the examination. Extra blank paper will also be prohibited.

The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast the weather on Thursday to be overcast, but not cold.

BY PARK MIN-JE, NAM YOON-SEO [koo.yurim@joongang.co.kr]