South Korean students sued their teacher for ending the Suneung exam 90 seconds earlier than the required time. Many may find 90 seconds to be a small amount. However, 90 seconds could allow a student to change their paper in a way that could detrimentally affect the quality of it.
According to BBC, the Suneung test is a college admissions test. It is eight hours long and extremely intense. The Suneung exam is full of massively difficult papers that range in all different subjects.
The exam is a day-long event held every year on a Thursday. The students are required to remain in the testing environment until the exam is over. They are consecutively assigned papers and given no breaks between them.
There is much at stake in taking the exam. Students take this test to establish relationships and an accomplished educational future. Airports are closed during this day to avoid distracting any testers.
According to The Korea Herald, the stock market, jobs, and government agencies were persuaded to open an hour later at 10 in the morning. Construction work was stopped during the exam.
What happened?
Around 38 students were victims of the exam that ended early. It happened in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The testing bell that symbolizes the exam’s end rang 90 seconds earlier than the required testing time.
However, the test proctor attempted to redeem the situation by allowing the students a minute and a half to work on the exam again during their lunch break. The students were only allowed to answer the blank questions.
According to The Week, students were detrimentally affected by the mistaken time alteration, as many made complaints that they could not focus during the remaining testing time.
The students were too worried about the previous test’s failure, causing some of the testers to leave the testing center and go home. The issues of the exam led to the students taking legal action.
Results of the legal action
The students sued the proctor on grounds of frustration and stress. After the exam, the students complained that they received no apology.
According to the Newser, the students fared well from the lawsuit, as they were each granted a sum of money for a year’s worth of educational expenses. By court order, the government was required to pay around $15,000 to each of the students whose exams ended early.
Mastermind
December 23, 2023 at 9:33 pm
Very interesting. Wouldn’t be surprised if something similar happened State side. Some timed-tests we take are difficult enough. It wouldn’t hurt if we got a few more minutes to look over our answers and make changes if needed.