Mr. Choi is a student in his 20s who is currently attending Kyunghee University. A student who had taken the exam three times before, he took a break from school in order to prepare to re-take it again. On November 13, he retook the CSAT for the fourth time yet was frustrated when during the English portion of the exam, he was distracted by the test administrator's phone.
"My seat was right next to the teacher's desk, and in front of the teacher's desk I saw and heard the administrator's phone vibrating in his purple jumper," Mr. Choi explained. He continued, "The administrator didn't turn off the phone; he rolled up his jumper, and put it below the teacher's desk."
The vibrations only continued throughout the exam. Mr. Choi stated, "During the reading portion I heard the vibrations again, even to the point that my desk was shaking." According to Mr. Choi, the phone vibrated three to four times during the reading portion of the exam for 20 seconds each.
Mr. Choi spoke to the administrator after the exam and asked him why he didn't simply turn off the phone. At this, the administrator had responded, "It wasn't my phone but a phone that was vibrating inside a student's bag." Although Mr. Choi and his friends went to the exam center immediately after to complain, the administrator continued to insist that it wasn't his phone. The exam center investigated into the case but nothing came out of it. It was only until the Doonchon High School vice president got involved and held a meeting with all the test administrators that the administrator admitted that he was wrong and apologized.
"I couldn't contain my frustration anymore and I really cried for around one hour. It seemed to be the end of everything for me," Mr. Choi said. He expressed his dissatisfaction with how the school is handling the issue, saying, "The day that the supervisor had the phone issue, I lost my time and money; although I was told that in the future my time would be compensated and that the teacher would be dismissed, presently they haven't been keeping in contact and are avoiding their responsibilities."
Mr. Choi then stated, "Anyway, if this current issue doesn't get resolved, I will confirm my student ID and test ID because I'm thinking of killing myself," before providing such information to Insight to validate his testimony (shown above).
Mr. Choi ended the interview with, "The part-time job I did while attending school, the money I worked hard to earn, the cram (hagwon), school bill, and my time. In one moment, my efforts were for naught." He called for the education board to dismiss the administrator and to compensate for his lost time and money. Although Mr. Choi stated that he was unsure about what to do next, he told Insight, "I'm applying to see the superintendent Cho Hee Yeon for a face-to-face talk."
Netizens have responded sympathetically to Mr. Choi, with comments saying, "It would've been nice if the exam center fired those kind of teachers," "Why are you guys cursing at the student? If the damage is that much that the student is desperate to take his own life, even if he attends Kyunghee University and he can take the test again if he is unsatisfied with his grade, is he in the wrong? I definitely don't think so. If it were me and that kind of situation happened I would do the same. Your life is shaken by a single moment of a vibrating cell phone; those who don't prepare for the CSAT are being unkind…. It's a moment that throws off 12 years of preparation…," and, "Don't say thoughtless things toward the student. He based his life on this and probably studied a lot… if he messed up because of others rather than his own skill, how could he not lose his mind?"
SHARE
Log in to comment