1 / 9

The BIG DAY: the Korean College Entrance Exam

The BIG DAY: the Korean College Entrance Exam. By Peter Lee. What am I talking about?. Every year, in November, students in their 12th grade in high schools take a test called the 수능 or College Scholastic Ability Test in English This year it was November 13th. When Does the Test Start?.

noam
Download Presentation

The BIG DAY: the Korean College Entrance Exam

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The BIG DAY: the Korean College Entrance Exam By Peter Lee

  2. What am I talking about? • Every year, in November, students in their 12th grade in high schools take a test called the 수능 or College Scholastic Ability Test in English • This year it was November 13th

  3. When Does the Test Start? • The test starts at 9 AM • Ends at about 6 PM • 9 hours • Evening newspaper publishes questions/answers • Kids who don’t do well usually study for 1 more year

  4. Where Did This Test Take Place? • In thousands of high schools in Korea

  5. What’s so Special About that Day? • It’s a day basically reserved for the 590,000 high school seniors • Businesses/Stock Market opens one hour later • Other students don’t go to school • During listening, airplanes can’t leave/land in Korea • Korea Electric Power Corp. has 4,000 members to ensure that there isn’t a power shortage • Koreans want test to be fair • The 400 teachers who make test are isolated for weeks • Surrounded by police • No TV/Internet/monitored phone calls

  6. Hype Before the Test • Newspapers/TV shows publish which foods are good for increasing concentration and boosting memory • For example, seaweed soup (미역국) is considered by some TV shows bad • There are business for this day • All they do is give parents tips • Many religious parents (Christian/Buddhist) go to temples • Pray for countless hours

  7. Why Is The Test Important? • >80% of high school seniors plan to go to college • This test could influence salary 30 years later • Has become less important over the years • Gvmt./Education officials want it to be more Western • Social importance • Many people don’t think college is important, but can’t fight social pressure • It’s a objective and fair way to see who studied more • Opportunity for everyone of all social statuses to rise

  8. How Does It Make Me Feel? • Sad • Study countless hours, pay thousands of dollars for one day • Rote memorization isn’t life • Many Koreans get into Ivy Leagues, but many have highest dropout rate • Even though Korea boasts some of the best students, they are criticized • Don’t have creativity, critical thinking, and comprehensive understanding of a subject • Also criticized for having less maturity • Many students commit suicide when test results come out • Korea has #1 suicide rate (24/100,000 people) in the OECD

  9. Citations • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Scholastic_Ability_Test • http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122644964013219173.html?mod=googlenews_wsj • http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/education/2008/november/South-Korea-Holds-its-Breath-As-Students-Take-Entrance-Exam.html • http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2008/11/181_30122.html • http://blogs.newamericamedia.org/nam-round-table/1390/s-korea-a-republic-of-suicide • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oecd • http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?at_code=390145 • http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-08/2008-08-21-voa42.cfm • http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/52955/Cram-School-Confidential:-Korean-Students-Becoming-Worlds-Best • http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/news/top(57).jpg • http://cache.gettyimages.com/xc/51750146.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF193CC300C081D9F4700403EB205DAC68BE023DF6925564C0726A55A1E4F32AD3138 • http://www.hawcc.hawaii.edu/nursing/RNKorean_Images07/brown-seaweed-soup-070630.jpg

More Related