Human Rights Commission: "Allow Bathroom Use During Local Government Employee Recruitment Exams"

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has urged improvements to the current exam administration methods to ensure that the human rights of candidates are not violated, such as restricting restroom use during the written exams for local government officials.

On the 23rd, the NHRCK announced that it had recommended to Superintendent OO on the 17th to improve the administration of the written exams to protect the human rights of candidates.

According to the NHRCK, Mr. A filed a complaint stating that during the written exam for local government official appointments, candidates were prohibited from using the restroom even if they urgently needed to during the test. Even in unavoidable situations such as stomach upset or diarrhea, the education office prevented re-entry to the exam room, effectively forcing candidates to forfeit the exam midway.

The education office responded, stating, "Restricting restroom use during the written exam for local government official appointments is a measure to prevent possible cheating and to avoid disturbing other candidates' concentration. Allowing restroom use would require securing additional proctors, which is difficult, making this method unavoidable."

The NHRCK stated, "There is a trend toward easing or abolishing restroom restrictions in exams requiring strict supervision and large numbers of candidates, such as the College Scholastic Ability Test, TOEIC, and civil service exams. Considering that no social problems have arisen from this, allowing restroom use during exams is not a critical issue for preventing cheating."

Furthermore, the NHRCK said, "The education office's claim that securing additional proctors is difficult is hard to accept as a significant reason given the scale of fewer than 1,000 candidates and the human rights protection effects for examinees. This is an act that infringes on human dignity, value, the right to pursue happiness, and general freedom of action."