Planes, trains and automobiles prepped ahead of annual CSAT exam

Social Affairs

Published: 16 Nov. 2022, 18:41 Updated: 17 Nov. 2022, 01:33

Planes, trains and automobiles prepped ahead of annual CSAT exam

Students taking this year's College Scholastic Ability Test listen to instructions for the exam at Kyungpook National University High School in Daegu on Wednesday. The instructions were handed out outdoors to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. [YONHAP]

Planes will be grounded, protests put on hold and working hours delayed on Thursday as over 500,000 students across the nation take the annual College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT).

The CSAT, known here as suneung, which is normally held on the third Thursday of every November, is arguably the most critical exam most Korean students have to take. It determines which university they get into and they usually spend their entire youth preparing for it.

The grueling marathon exam is scheduled to begin with a test on the Korean language at 8:40 a.m. and wrap up at 5:45 p.m. with a test on a second foreign language or Chinese characters. Tests on other subjects including mathematics, English and Korean history will be held in between.

Given the significance of the CSAT, and how any disturbance could lead to a legal battle, Korean companies and government offices go to great lengths to allow test-takers to arrive at their testing sites in the morning in optimal condition. They also ensure that loud noises are kept at a minimum for the listening portion of the English exam.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport this week announced that all planes will be prohibited from taking off and landing between 1:05 p.m. and 1:40 p.m. on Thursday when students take the English listening test.

Any planes that fly into Korea during that period will be told to stay at least 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) above ground until the test is over.

To help students get to their testing sites on time, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would increase buses and subway trains in the morning hours and set aside nearly 800 cars to help anyone who calls the office asking for help with transportation.

Some 260 safety agents will also be on standby at crowded subway stations like Gangnam Station in southern Seoul and Hongik University Station in western Seoul, said the Seoul government office.

In Incheon, 34 CSAT test-takers from Ongjin Island have been studying at a four-star hotel in downtown Incheon since last Friday to stay near their designated CSAT testing sites. All fees have been covered by the Incheon Metropolitan Government, Incheon’s education office, Ongjin County Office and the hotel.

Similar benefits have been provided to 15 students from Ulleung Island, who are studying at a hotel in Pohang, North Gyeongsang.

The Seoul Metro union and the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, an activists’ group for people with disabilities, both said they would postpone their protests so as not to disturb students taking the test.

BY KIM MIN-WOOK, LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]