A famous English academy in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul scrapped its entrance qualification test and instead set high TOEFL scores, an English certification test made by its in-house publisher, or taking six months of online classes as admissions requirements.
The government moved to regulate to reduce the burden of "level tests" for entry into prestigious academies, but critics say the admissions bar has only gotten higher and the private education expense burden has grown.
According to the private education sector on the 19th, A English Academy in Daechi-dong announced last month that it would abolish its entrance level test. The academy, known for its high admission difficulty and discussion-centered classes, has been called one of the "big three" in the Daechi-dong academy district. It had selected students through a first-round reading and writing test and a second-round interview.
Through a notice, the head of A Academy said, "We determined it was necessary to assess students' English abilities based on a broad perspective and credible standards," and presented new admissions criteria.
The new admissions process has two stages. In stage one, applicants must meet one of the following: ▲ submit a TOEFL score of 100 or higher ▲ obtain the top grade on the P English Proficiency Assessment ▲ take the academy's own online classes for at least six months. Only students who pass this stage are eligible to sit for the S English Proficiency Assessment, and only those who receive a certain grade or higher there can be finally admitted.
Parents argue that the TOEFL score among A Academy's conditions is "pie in the sky." A score of 100 or higher on the TOEFL is known to be sufficient to apply to top-tier U.S. universities. That means it is realistically difficult for 8-year-old children taking the entrance test to achieve. A Academy also recognizes only TOEFL scores from within the past three months, and the test fee is $220 (about 320,000 won), making repeated attempts costly.
In the end, parents' options narrow to the English proficiency assessments or the online classes. The P English Proficiency Assessment presented by A Academy is a test produced by a publisher run by the academy. The test covers vocabulary, reading, and writing, adding a vocabulary test to the reading and writing that were part of the first-round level test. Past questions are not disclosed, and the fee is 30,000 won per sitting. The score is valid for three months, so if a student fails the next-stage S English Proficiency Assessment, they must take the test again.
The academy's own online classes are offered twice a week remotely, and the fee is 55,000 won per session. If taken for six months, the total cost comes to about 2.86 million won. Students must also pass a separate test to take these online classes.
Parents who were excited about the abolition of A Academy's level test said the burden has only grown. Parent B (43) said, "In the end, it forces you to choose between its own certification or expense," adding, "The form has changed, but the structure of evaluating and ranking children remains the same."
Level tests for academy admissions have become so entrenched that the abbreviation "lete" is commonly used. As even infants and young children began receiving separate tutoring to pass level tests, people started calling it the "4-year-old and 7-year-old" state exam.
As criticism mounted that excessive early private education violates children's rights, the government decided to regulate level tests. An amendment to the Private Academy Act banning level tests for infants and young children passed The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee last month. The Ministry of Education said that if the bill is passed at a plenary session of the National Assembly and implemented, it plans to crack down on the 4-year-old and 7-year-old state exams.
However, exploiting a loophole in the amendment that regulates only entrance exams for infants and young children, major academies in Daechi-dong have moved to toughen admissions assessments for elementary school students.
Education authorities say it will be difficult to regulate A Academy's new admissions system under the revised law right away. An official at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said, "The Private Academy Act amendment bans entrance exams only for preschoolers, so it is hard to impose sanctions on academies targeting elementary, middle, and high school students based on that act alone."
Some warn that regulation without structural measures could simply breed more loopholes. Yang Jeong-ho, a professor of education at Sungkyunkwan University, said, "After the move to regulate level tests, the previous practice of granting eligibility only to those from certain academies and then making them take tests has changed form," adding, "In the end, regulation and attempts to circumvent it are intertwined."