Audit shows ‘cartel’ between public, private educators

The state audit agency said Monday that it has uncovered collusive ties between public and private educators during the development of the annual college entrance exam, known as the nation's most significant academic event. Announcing the outcome of its investigation into the "cartel" between the public and private education sectors, the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) said that it has requested the prosecution to formally investigate 56 individuals. Among them are public school teachers who allegedly crafted questions similar to those appearing on the state-administered College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), known as Suneung in Korean, and sold them to private cram schools in return for money. Noticeably, one senior teacher, who previously engaged in creating CSATs, later formed an eight-member ring to generate around 2,000 questions and sold them to private instructors for approximately 660 million won (US$503,641) in return. Additionally, a number of public school teachers who authored textbooks for public education broadcaster EBS were found to have exchanged questions with private educators for financial compensation. The BAI also disclosed the findings of its investigation into allegations regarding similarities between the English exam text of the CSAT conducted in November 2023 and the exam text in an English workbook published by a renowned cram school instructor earlier that year. Following the exam, numerous students filed complaints, alleging that those who had taken lessons and participated in mock tests organized by the instructor might have gained an unfair advantage over others. The audit revealed that a local college professor, whose identity remains undisclosed, extracted text from the book "Too Much Information" by a Harvard Law School professor while serving as a member of the faculty developing CSAT questions in 2023. He became aware of the text while supervising an English textbook published by EBS earlier that year. Simultaneously, the instructor devised his private mock test after receiving texts from another public school teacher and administered the test to his students in September 2022. The BAI noted that the professor violated relevant laws prohibiting the unauthorized reuse of EBS texts in the CSAT. The audit further revealed that the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) failed to cross-check CSAT questions with privately submitted texts, and that KICE officials colluded to dismiss complaints filed by 215 students regarding the suspicions. The CSAT, held on the third Thursday of November each year, stands as one of the nation's most important academic events, representing the culmination of years of hard work for many students aspiring to enter top universities. The audit followed the government's unveiling of plans last year aimed at curbing the country's burgeoning spending on private education, which has been cited as a major factor contributing to the nation's declining fertility rate. President Yoon Suk Yeol criticized the CSAT for incorporating qu estions not included in the regular curriculum at public schools, including those dubbed "killer questions" due to their complexity. Source: Yonhap News Agency