[WORD_ON_THE_WEB] 'Students who work hard should be rewarded'

The College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) may be more disadvantageous for humanities students this year.

High school sophomores in Korea can choose between two different curriculum tracks when they enter college, roughly equivalent to humanities and sciences.

In the pre-existing education system, the students of different curriculum tracks would take separate math tests.

But now, all students compete in one pool, with common and elective subjects.

Many humanities students chose probability and statistics as their elective in last year’s CSAT, while the science students chose calculus the most.

However, even if two students got the same raw score, the standard score for the student who chose calculus would be higher.

This is because the system adjustments the scores according to the average score of the subject. So when top students choose their strong subject, they have more advantages.

Some critics say the integrated test system is unfair to humanities students.

Many universities require students to choose certain CSAT subjects if they wish to apply to the sciences.

But since no such restrictions apply to applicants of the humanities department, the higher scores of science students in certain subjects would be effectively lower the scores of humanities students.

#penalty_to_humanities_students
“The humanities students are penalized on math tests. Wouldn’t it be fair to make science students take mandatory tests for social study subjects?”
“It’s not just a matter of humanities students having a disadvantage on math tests. Can we call this a fair system if science students can cross-apply, and the humanities students can’t?”

#more_importance_on_math
“Disadvantageous to humanities students? This is the system returning to normal. The students who work hard should be rewarded with good grades.”
“It’s a disadvantage to students with bad math scores. This is fair because the humanities students’ study load for math is much lighter than that of science students.”

#faulty_scoring_system
“The entrance examination system is degrading day by day. The humanities are neglected because students are forced to think of universities only as tools for employment.”
“Joint tests on CSAT while the students had separate education? That’s a contradiction.”

BYLEESI-YEOUNG,YOOJI-WOO[yoo.jiwoo@joongang.co.kr]