Sculpture Section of Art Competition for High School Students
University Apologizes for "Lack of Oversight" in Test Question Creation
A controversy has arisen after an art college located in the Seoul metropolitan area gave high school students a practical test question asking them to "depict the facial expression of a pilot just before a crash."
According to Yonhap News on July 26, Suwon University held an art practical competition for high school students through an external agency on July 19 and 20.
The controversial question appeared in the sculpture (themed bust) section of the competition. Participants in the sculpture section had to choose one of two prompts, and one of the prompts was "Depict the facial expression of a male pilot in his 40s just before a plane crash." It has been confirmed that 39 students selected this prompt.
After this fact became public, criticism and concerns have continued, with some pointing out that the question evokes memories of the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster that occurred at Muan International Airport on December 29 of last year.
On "Everytime," Suwon University's online community, one comment read, "What if one of the students taking the test was a bereaved family member of a victim?" and "I didn't even make the question, but I feel so sorry for the bereaved families." Other users also criticized the university's careless approach, saying, "This is so shameful," and "Was there no one with common sense involved in making the questions?"
A Suwon University official told Yonhap News, "It seems there was a lack of oversight in the process of creating and selecting the practical test questions," and added, "We sincerely apologize for causing controversy by failing to manage the process properly. We will make sure this does not happen again in the future."
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