By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The government released details of the results of the college scholastic ability test (CSAT) taken nationwide for the first time ever Wednesday, showing a wide performance gap among regions. The disparity drew concerns that harsher competition could worsen it.
Gwangju Metropolitan City, in the far south of the Korean peninsula, topped the list in foreign languages, English, and social science for five consecutive years, according to the education ministry. About 49 percent of students there were above grade four out of a total of nine grades, which is roughly equivalent to being in the top 40 percent.
On the other hand, South Chungcheong Province marked the highest portion of students from grade seven to nine, which is accountable for the bottom 23 percent.
The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, a state-run evaluation agency, said students in Seoul and large cities outscored those in rural areas. It said those at elite schools such as foreign language schools or science schools marked far higher than ordinary schools, adding that gaps between the schools mounted up to 73 points.
The institute plans to disclose the list annually.
The report, however, is expected to cause a stir. Since scores are indicated by region and school, they could be used as an evaluating tool for school headmasters, local administrative leaders and others.
``This could be a new way to label students ― from which part of the country they’re from to which school they went to,’’ a parent said. Moreover, the private cram school market, the main driver of the widening gap, will use results as marketing tools, experts say.
Especially when the current high school selection system is a lottery, such revelations could stifle the nation’s educational principal of ``equal opportunity,’’ they also say.
The disclosure was made after Rep. Cho Jeon-hyeok of the Grand National Party requested last year that Education Minister Ahn Byong-man make it. Before becoming a politician, Cho was a university professor and filed a lawsuit against the ministry calling for such a disclosure, which is now impending at the Supreme Court.
However, some claim that it was the ``philosophy’’ of President Lee Myung-bak, weighing on competition and autonomy, that brought the revelation.
``So what comes next? Mothers will rush to put their children in `good schools’ by moving while others will feel like `losers,’ blaming schools and where they live,’’ a concerned school teacher said.
The evaluation institute said it has omitted the names of schools and that there’s very little chance that the information would have a large influence. Last year, a total of 559,476 students took the test.