Where there is competion there will always be cheaters. Whethere it’s a simple game of checkers or a high stakes poker game, there will be some who want to find that short cut in order to come out on top. The same holds true in the classroom and in the heated pressure cooker arena of Seoul education system it was only a matter of time before someone got caught with their hands on the teacher’s notes.
The pressure on students to excel in Korea is immense. Students not only have their regular school work and classes, but parents also finance additional lessons at hogwons in math, science, and English. If you don’t already know, a hogwon is a private academy that specializes in a particular subject. These parents are shelling out their hard earned money to give their child that extra edge to get into the very best high schools and universities in Korea.
Entrance into these elite schools is usually determined on an entrace exam. Passing these tests are why the students here are putting in days and nights studying until 2 am. So you can imagine the outrage when parents learn that some students had access to test questions before the big exam. The outcry probably burst eardrums across the Seoul educational offices.
It seems that instructors from a private cram school passed out some of the exam questions to their students who were being bussed to the test location. The impromptu “study session” was discovered and the punishements being dealt now have the parents of those students up in arms. 63 of those students will have their admission to the school they were applying for cancelled. I think this is not only fair, but definitely necessary. It’s a shame the students have to go through this, but it’s a lesson they won’t soon forget. Of course it will probably stay fresh in their minds since their parents are hiring lawyers to fight the decision.
I also hope that a harsh punishment is being devised for the private school that distributed the test questions as well as the source of those questions, a director of one of those elite schools.
