'Killer' questions axed from CSAT to reduce reliance on cram schools

Social Affairs

Published: 26 Jun. 2023, 17:50 Updated: 27 Jun. 2023, 14:47

'Killer' questions axed from CSAT to reduce reliance on cram schools

Education Minister Lee Ju-ho speaks at a press briefing at the government complex in central Seoul Monday to announce government measures to reduce reliance on private education. [NEWS1]

The Ministry of Education announced Monday that super difficult "killer" questions will be removed from the annual state-administered College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) as a part of measures to reduce reliance on private academies.

"The Ministry of Education under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration seeks to break the vicious circle of private education, which increases the burden of private education on our children and their parents and undermines the fairness of education," said Education Minister Lee Ju-ho, who doubles as deputy prime minister of social affairs, at a press briefing at the Seoul government complex to announce government measures to reduce reliance on private education, such as hagwon (cram schools).

This came in response to criticism that the college-determining CSAT includes unnecessarily difficult questions not covered under public education that students can't solve without resorting to private lessons.

According to data released by the Education Ministry and Statistics Korea in March, the total expenditure for elementary, middle and high school students for private education increased by 10.8 percent on-year in 2022 to 26 trillion won ($20 billion), up from 23.4 trillion won in 2021.

"It is a personal choice to seek private tutoring to supplement schooling in areas covered by the public education curriculum," Lee said. "However, in the meantime, students and parents have been driven to private tutoring due to killer questions on the CSAT that are not covered in the public education curriculum. While students, parents and teachers are all having a difficult time, some large academies specializing in college entrance exams make economic gains through students' and parents' anxiety."

The Education Ministry reiterated that only private academies benefit while students and parents suffer from such excessive reliance on private education. The ministry plans to reinforce public education, while eradicating so-called "private education cartels" and implementing a "fair" CSAT that allows students to prepare for college entrance exams without the help of cram schools.

The CSAT, referred to as suneung in Korean, is administered nationwide by the state-run Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation usually on the third Thursday of November, and university hopefuls spend much of their high school years preparing for this grueling hours-long exam.

Earlier this month, President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered Education Minister Lee to exclude material that is "not covered in public education" from the annual CSAT, as a move to move away from reliance on private lessons.

The presidential office differentiated that this doesn't mean an "easier" CSAT but one that sticks to the scope of what is taught in school.

In response, Lee said last week that his ministry plans to conduct an intensive investigation to "look into any irregularities at private academies, such as the so-called existence of private education cartels and false and exaggerated advertisements by the academies."

This refers to a systemic practice in which some extremely difficult CSAT questions are crafted by former test-makers, who are in turn hired by private academies as teachers so the academies can charge extravagant tuitions. Exam administrators argue that such questions are needed to differentiate top scorers.

The Education Ministry on Monday revealed 22 representative examples of killer questions not to include in the CSAT.

This came after the ministry analyzed 480 questions in the subjects of Korean, mathematics and English over the past three years, including the mock exam held this June. This included seven killer questions for Korean, nine for math and six for English.

The ministry said it singled out these killer questions because of their convoluted approach, use of abstract concepts and need for excessive reasoning skills.

The examples were released to prevent test takers from experiencing confusion in their exam prep with about five months left until this year's CSAT.

Starting with the 2025 CSAT, a teacher-centered test-making team will be formed, and a plan to additionally disclose information on exam questions will be reviewed, said the ministry. Exactly what information will be disclosed has not been decided.

Separately, the exam committee plans to prohibit profit-making activities such as CSAT-related lectures and consulting for a certain period of time in order to prevent cram schools from buying mock exam questions from teachers and professors who have experience in preparing the tests.

The Education Ministry said it plans to strengthen supplemental public education, including after-school guidance. Paid lessons from EBS, or the Korea Educational Broadcasting System, will likewise be converted to free lessons for middle and high school students.

The ministry also said it plans to curb the rampant demand for private education for preschoolers and elementary schools, such as so-called English kindergartens, which are also on the rise. This includes measures such as expanding the "neulbom school," a pilot program combining after-school child care and education, and the revision of the "nuri curriculum," or early education for children aged 3 to 5.

Lee in the press briefing apologized for not coming up with measures to resolve the private education problem earlier and said, "I express my deep regret that killer questions released from the point of view of the test-makers and suppliers didn't meet the level of students and parents."

Referring to the question examples released that day, he added, "As a person in charge of education policy, I would like to express self-reflection over such killer question announced today. Regardless of previous governments, the basic principle is to set the CSAT in the public education curriculum."

"If necessary, judicial action can also be considered," a presidential official said Monday, referring to the private education cartels.

"Because of the current private education system, students are very unhappy, parents are unhappy, and many of our teachers are unhappy," the official added. "Our students' academic ability is declining."

He added that the Yoon government is trying to rectify this broken system, noting, "We expect the Education Ministry to implement [changes] well, and the presidential office will be watching."