Korean Job Discussion Forums

[garykasparov]

Exam leak scandal hits elite schools

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2007/11/14/200711140032.asp

The exam-leak scandal concerning a foreign language high school in Gimpo could spur the government's plan to tighten regulations on elite special-purpose schools.

Foreign language high schools in Gyeonggi Province may have to re-administer their entrance exams, as police are investigating the leak of test papers to a hagwon, or private cram school, and even parents of the examinees.

The National Police Agency said yesterday that a parent surnamed Park is suspected of receiving the test questions by e-mail from an admissions official at Gimpo Foreign Language High School on the morning that his daughter took the entrance test.

Feverish competition to get into elite high schools, coupled with the authorities' lax oversight, apparently led to some kind of collusion between the foreign language high schools and hagwon.

"You hear things like: 'If you want to go to that foreign language high school, go to this hagwon,'" said a student surnamed Yoo who graduated from a foreign language high school two years ago. "I saw the same questions I'd seen at my hagwon on the entrance test papers."

Some hagwon bosses are known for being close enough to the principals of certain foreign language high schools to get the exams in advance, said a senior student surnamed Kim at one of the schools.

"The competition to get into these hagwon with special connections is even fiercer than for entering a foreign language high school," Kim said.

Some 13,400 students applied to the nine foreign language high schools in Gyeonggi last year, and less than an eighth passed the test.

The government claims that the elite schools focusing on science, arts or foreign language education are deviating from their purported specialties, and are only catering to parents demanding that their children be better prepared for college entrance exams.

The Education Ministry said late last month that it will decide by June 2008 whether or not to scrap the special-purpose high school category. The ministry said it will choose from two options -- converting all special-purpose high schools to "specialized" high schools by 2018, or making revisions to the admissions standards, and better supervising the special-purpose high schools under the current system.

Specialized high schools would focus more on practical learning to enable students to find their career path at an earlier age, according to the ministry. Currently, the specialties of schools under this category range from animation production to gardening.

"Currently, all schools labeled special-purpose high schools -- foreign language, international, science, arts and physical education -- have no control regarding their curricula," said Seong Sam-je, the ministry's director of educational welfare policy. "This is why foreign language high schools can reduce class hours in Chinese or French, for example, in order to focus on preparing the students for college entrance."

Should the problematic foreign language high schools merge into "schools with specialties," they will be able to concentrate on building language skills, Seong said.

Several foreign language high schools did veer from their original purpose by running separate classes for students preparing to enter medical schools or the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

Education authorities in Gyeonggi, on the other hand, have moved in the opposite direction from the central government.

Aiming to foster "global talent," Gyeonggi has sought to increase the number of foreign language high schools, and has insisted that local governments should have the right to permit the establishment of such schools.

"The Gyeonggi Office of Education should scrap its plans to set up five more special-purpose high schools, as this only worsens the cram-school craze," insisted a member of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union.

By Kim So-hyun

([email protected])







2007.11.14

[bassexpander]

[Snowkr]

I've got a question... kind of related...

How does one get a position in one of these foreign language high schools? I work in a regular Korean public high school but I have an MA in TESOL and several years of experience teaching in Asia and the U.S. and would like to put all my qualifications to better use...

Is it just the luck of the draw as to who gets to work in these foreign language high schools or is there a better way to secure a position like this?

[xCustomx]

[ernie]

a person named 'park'? omigod - i know that guy!

[Snowkr]

Thanks Custom X!

[Chicoloco]

From the ad:

School Website: http://www.swfl.hs.kr (Sorry, no English )

Korea Sparkling!

[cornie_man]

In areas outside of Gyeong-gi-do the local ministry of education selects where they put the teachers for their foreign language high school. In my area, it is a crapshoot whether or not you end up teaching the top students at such a school; you could equally end up going through the alphabet at an elementary school. The process seems to be different throughout the country.