In South Korea, the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) administers the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) every year for high school graduates (or expected graduates). The university one can attend is determined by CSAT scores, and graduating from a prestigious university increases the likelihood of being socially recognized and securing a good job.
Additionally, there is a school grading system called “Naesin” (internal grades), which evaluates students’ academic performance in high school. Naesin scores are based on regular school exams (midterms and finals), and each subject’s grades are assigned on a relative scale, ranging from Level 1 (highest) to Level 9 (lowest). Only the top 4% of students can achieve a Level 1 grade.
There is a webtoon (which was also adapted into a drama) titled After School War Activities that satirizes Korea’s Naesin system. In the story, third-year high school students preparing for university entrance exams are suddenly drafted into a war against alien lifeforms. Instead of studying, students are given bonus admission points for participating in actual combat. What is even more terrifying is that teachers encourage students to join the war for these extra points.
Ultimately, everything students do in Korean schools is aimed at getting into a good university.
This has led to numerous problems and side effects.
Students suffer from excessive academic stress and mental health issues, and South Korea has the lowest average sleep duration among OECD countries. The youth happiness index ranks among the lowest in the world, and for 12 consecutive years, suicide has been the leading cause of death among teenagers (ages 10–19).
To perform well on the CSAT, students competitively enroll in private academies (hagwons), leading to high private education expenses and a financial burden on families. South Korea’s household education spending is among the highest in OECD countries.
Because of the education system, children are unhappy, families struggle financially, and making a living becomes increasingly difficult.
Some argue that Korea has developed this much precisely because of its strong emphasis on education.
But can the CSAT truly be considered education?
The essence of school education should be to teach students what they need before entering society, and exams should simply be a means to assess how well they have learned. However, in South Korea, it seems that the process of strategizing for exams is being mistaken for education itself.
Even the CSAT is not designed to test knowledge but rather to rank students, often making the questions unnecessarily difficult. Understanding and knowledge are not the priority—what matters is how much students can memorize in detail.
Students, schools, and academies focus on developing strategies to tackle the CSAT, honing techniques to achieve higher scores, optimizing study methods, memorizing vast amounts of information, and training rigorously.
Of course, getting into a good university or company is important.
However, schools should not be reduced to mere stepping stones for university and career advancement.
Even if society as a whole is fixated on the CSAT, allowing schools to be swept up in that mindset and conform to it poses a significant problem for the future of society.
