[K-Women Talk] Hoping for a Consistent CSAT Rather Than a "Fair" CSAT

Fairness Is the Foundation of Exams
Fluctuating Difficulty Levels Are the Key Issue
Consistency Matters in Education and Admissions Systems

Kim Kyung-sun, former Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family

The College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) is just three days away. A day that makes all citizens of the Republic of Korea nervous is approaching. The first CSAT was conducted in 1993. Those born in 1975 or early 1976, who were freshmen in the 1994 academic year, took the first exam. By age, the CSAT is now 31 years old. Although our country's college entrance system has continuously changed, the CSAT has established itself as the fundamental framework for university entrance exams for a much longer period than the previous generation's scholastic aptitude test (SAT).

In fact, I belong to the SAT generation. The SAT, conducted from 1981 to 1992, was replaced by the CSAT because it had too many multiple-choice memorization questions. The generation before the SAT took preliminary and main exams. It is an interesting phenomenon in Korea that generations can be distinguished by the type of college entrance exam they took. Anyway, compared to the SAT, which lasted only about 11 years, the CSAT has been the cornerstone of the college entrance exam system for over 30 years, despite much talk about "difficult CSAT" or "easy CSAT," which is somewhat fortunate.

The current government has advocated for a fair CSAT by eliminating killer questions that encourage private education and focusing on the public education curriculum. In that context, last year's CSAT had no killer questions but was still considered not easy. To maintain differentiation, killer questions in math were removed, but Korean and English became more difficult, which was the consensus.

In fact, the phrase "fair CSAT" is somewhat tautological. The CSAT is taken to ensure the college entrance system operates fairly, and the linkage rate with EBS CSAT textbooks is continuously maintained. Fairness is fundamental to any exam, and since opinions on which exam is fairer vary, making fairness the goal of the exam does not easily gain support from examinees or parents. What is expected from the CSAT seems to be more consistency than fairness. Although adjusting difficulty is not easy, having the exam difficulty fluctuate like a roller coaster places a tremendous burden on examinees, parents, and teachers alike.

Especially this year, the number of CSAT test takers is 522,670, an increase of 18,082 compared to last year. Due to the expansion of medical school quotas, the number of repeat test takers, including those who passed the qualification exam, reached 181,893, the highest in 21 years. Comparing the number of applicants for the June mock evaluation and the actual CSAT, it is estimated that 93,195 are repeat test takers. Among parents, there is a flood of talk that the uncertainty of this year's entrance exam will be unprecedented due to the concentration of top-tier students in medical schools and the rapid increase in medical school quotas.

One of the indicators of an advanced country is policy consistency. Uncertainty in systems and policy implementation causes significant costs both domestically and internationally. Among these, educational policy is considered the most important to be consistent. College entrance is not simply something to prepare for after entering high school. In Korea, which boasts the world's highest educational enthusiasm, parents consider from elementary school which track under the current college entrance system best suits their child. Although excessive educational enthusiasm is a problem, at least the framework of the entrance system must be maintained consistently so that each can prepare and respond accordingly. Sudden changes that deviate from expectations help no one. Regarding educational policy, parents likely want to elect politicians who promise not to change rather than those who say they will change things.

I hope that this week, without any exhausting political strife or fights, will be a peaceful week so that our children, who have worked hard for years for the CSAT, can achieve their best results with a calm mind.

Kim Kyung-sun, Former Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family