Suneung - The Korean SAT
Today all of my classes were shortened, I was sent home early, and I was informed that I get the day off tomorrow as the school will be shut down. Tomorrow is the Suneung (수능) test, the Korean equivalent of the SAT. Ever year on the second Thursday in November all high schools and some middle schools (if they are too close to a high school) are shut down so the third grade (senior) students can take this college entrance exam. Government employees start work late tomorrow to avoid traffic, the police are dispatched to escort students to the testing centers on time, and 1st and 2nd graders wake up early to cheer for the third graders as they make their way to the exam knowing that it’s only a matter of time before it’s their turn.
The third graders at my schools have always had a mythical quality to me. Their classrooms are on the top floor of the building and because I arrived only 2 months before the exam I’ve rarely actually SEEN them, let along spoken to them. Students start preparing for this exam one way or another in elementary school, so by the time they are in their final year their lives are entirely devoted to Suneung. I only teach first and second grade because third graders can’t be bothered with an hour of silly English conversation lessons once a week; that is precious time they could be studying!
Exam day is serious business. Most high schools serve as test centers and teachers are sent to different high schools as not to be tempted to help their students. The level of security involved is amazing, apparently the question makers work on the test in a locked up hotel without windows and don’t leave until the exam has finished. Our high school is not being used as a test center because we are too close to the airport, making it too noisy. One co-teacher told me today that the airport has prepared special flight patterns to stop planes from flying over the city and causing disruptive noise during the exam. First and second grade high school students nation wide get the day off so that there is nobody in the building to make noise and any schools adjacent to a test center are also shut down.
Unlike the SAT, with which if you get a poor score you can retake it in a few months, Suneung only happens once a year. If a student messes it up, they have 364 days to prepare for the next test, putting their university admissions and life on hold. Hence, the police escorts. Korea is one of the most competitive education systems in he world with a highly educated population competing for fewer and fewer jobs. I can’t IMAGINE dealing with pressure like this!
The whole country is hyper-aware of Suneung. It is one of the most popular temple visit days as parents and grandparents spend the testing hours praying for their children. I was just grabbing a coffee at Paris Baguette and they had flyers for special Suneung deals, which I’m assuming are gifts for those taking the test. This place is mad! Since I’ve gotten here people have been dropping the countdown into conversation, “82 days until Suneung”, “46 days until Suneung”. A few weeks back one of our school buses got into and accident with a public bus while taking students home at 11:30 pm. Everyone was really concerned, not because 4 students were still in the hospital the next day, but because 3 of them were third graders and it was only 32 days until Suneung. The teachers were all writing them off, claiming they would most definitely fail. 1pm the next day all the students in the hospital were back in class; they hadn’t even gone home before returning to school! The teachers’ second concern, after Suneung, was that one of the girls was cut by glass across her forehead and would likely have a scar…. according to them this will probably ruin her future in terms of both career and relationships. Needless to say bus-accident-week was one of those times I was both completely shocked by and really frustrated with the competitive nature in Korea.
This week my first graders’ text book lesson was themed around time travel. Many of my students, when asked where they would go, said 2 years into the future to when they have finished Suneung. Good luck to all those third graders out there! 화이팅!!!!!!!
