Edu Ministry Really Serious About 'Three Prohibitions'?

The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development promised it would be the entity to draft the detailed standards for entrance tests specific to each university, in order to prevent roundabout ways of avoiding such tests using essay examinations, but now it is trying to pass responsibility for that on to the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE). That is yet another change of attitude, since education minister Kim Jin Pyo has hinted that he is against the legislation of prohibitions on entrance tests specific to universities, the ranking of high schools, and entrance privileges for people whose parents have made financial contributions.

The education ministry says it is going to have a special review committee formed under KCUE to examine the essay questions of each university, but that is not a very desirable plan. The same universities are members of KCUE, and the mood is one in which a considerable number of them share a sense of the need for the ability to "differentiate." For that reason you doubt whether KCUE would be all that proactive in finding problems with the questions and demanding changes. Allowing for independent regulation would be most desirable, but right now there needs to be a certain degree of government involvement. The tight timetable is also a problem. The standards have to be in place by the middle of this month for schools to follow them in their first semester admissions procedures, and they say it will be hard for KCUE to have them ready by then. That means it is very probable that there will be another round of controversy about essay tests that are essentially school-specific entrance tests. The education ministry's responsibility is significant here, for letting the situation come to this by acting so slowly.

Even without this there is a lot of distrust and dissatisfaction with education policies such as the teacher appraisal system, heavier reliance on high school grade point averages, and the establishment of professional law and medical schools. Some universities are openly challenging the ministry's policies. By being inconsistent about university entrance policy in such a situation the ministry is hurting its own standing. When the education ministry wavers, classroom education gets sent into a state of confusion. The way to lessen the chaos and increase confidence in policy would be to provide the country with clear standards on major issues of contention. The education ministry has to demonstrate that it has the will to carry through with the policy on the "three prohibitions."

The Hankyoreh, 7 June 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]