One more thing about Exam Hell

This is my third (and last) post about Exam Hell.

As I have previously reported, Exam Hell is called that for a reason. The amount of stress that the Korean exam system places on young men and women is deadly. Every year, students kill themselves after (or this year, even during) the exam. So far this year, two suicides can be attributed to the College Scholastic Ability Test or CSAT(as posted by the Infidel and Pusan Jeff).

You can also check out this article about exam stress from the Korea Times. According to the report, three suicides last month have also been attributed to pressure of the upcoming CSAT. Here is what one expert said:

``The suicides seem to have been pushed by a sense of failure of not being able to meet the expectations of their ideals as well as those of the people around them,’’ said Han Sun-ho, neuropsychiatry professor and president of Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital.

``This is not just an individual psychological problem, but one that the entire society should take responsibility for. Continued dialogue between parents and students is of the utmost importance, and parents should help their children set healthy and realistic goals rather than pushing them toward unnecessarily high ideals,’’ he told The Korea Times.

Fat chance. Getting into the right school means getting the right job or marrying into the right family. The pressure is on because the stakes are that high. Things won't change until the Korean people judge students by their work, experience and ability rather than by the name of their university. I am sure that there are other factors in many of the CSAT-related suicides but the pressure to do well on that exam can be overwhelming.

All of the students' academic careers rest on how they perform in that one exam. All their work before means almost nothing except as preparation for the CSAT. Their college life is a long party to a cushy job if they score high enough on the CSAT.

So anxiety and pressure build as the time for the exam draws nearer. Students study later and sleep less, making them less able to rationally deal with emotional stress. Mothers provide all manner of support to their children, thereby putting more pressure on their children to please them. Your whole life rides on how you perform over the few hours.

It is a cocktail of stress that kills young Koreans every year.

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OK, that was grim. Let me end today's post on a happier note. If you have a chance to talk with a recent Korean high school graduate, ask him what he did in school between the time he took the CSAT and graduation. The short answer will be "nothing." All they do is hang out with friends in class and sometimes watch videos because the teachers know better than to try to teach them anything.