39 students have filed a lawsuit against the government because a college admission exam called the Suneung ended 90 seconds earlier than scheduled at a testing center in Seoul.
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Their lawyer, Kim Woo-suk, said that the error has negatively impacted the rest of their exams, and the students are asking for 20 million won ($15,400), equal to the yearly cost of studying to retake the exam. The students claim that the bell rang early, and despite their protests, the supervisors collected their papers. The mistake was acknowledged before the start of the next session, and the students were given an additional one and a half minutes during the lunch break. However, according to the BBC, they were only allowed to mark blank columns and were not permitted to change any existing answers.
Some stated that they could not regain their focus for the rest of the exam. Some even gave up and returned home, feeling that the incident had significantly impacted their performance. Kim also highlighted the lack of an apology from education authorities, adding to their frustration. The Suneung exam determines university admissions and affects job placements and prospects. The intense competition and societal emphasis on academic success have resulted in various measures to help students concentrate during the exam.
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This incident is not the first time such issues have arisen during the Suneung exam. In the past, there have been cases of leaked exam questions and other administrative errors that have caused significant distress among students. Each incident further highlights the need for a robust and reliable examination system that ensures fairness and minimizes unnecessary stress for test-takers.
In April, a court awarded 7 million won($5,250) to students who said they were disadvantaged during the 2021 Suneung exam because the bell rang two minutes earlier. A similar situation happened in China when a man was issued a one-year suspended sentence for ringing the bell four minutes and 48 seconds early during the national college entrance exam at a test site in Hunan province.