코로나 속 치뤄진 수능... 난이도 평이 등 다양한 방법으로 수험생 위로
This exam is deemed so significant that, in normal years, the country rolls out extreme measures to support students office hours are changed to clear roads to avoid students getting stuck in traffic and flights are rescheduled to prevent the sound of plane engines disrupting the English listening test.
But this year, even greater planning had been required to ensure the exams were held while keeping teenagers safe from coronavirus. More than that, taking into consideration the prolonged impact from Covid, the difficulty level has been lowered and exam takers could find a message of encouragement in their exams.
Bae Eun-ji reports.
Thursday was the day of South Korea's national college entrance exam...a day which students have spent the last 12 years preparing for.
To make sure that all 490-thousand students made it to test centers on time, the whole country ground to halt for around an hour on Thursday morning.
Stock markets and banks opened at 10 AM, one hour later than usual... and government offices and some companies also began work an hour late.
The government also increased public transport services for test-takers.
In Seoul, subways ran more often from 6 to 10 AM, and there were more buses from 6 to 8:10 AM.
More than 700 vehicles including police cars were placed near subway and bus stations to give free rides to those getting to test centers at the last-minute.
Some cities also allowed students to use public transport for free.
South Korea's chief test maker said that this year's exam itself wasn't too difficult.
"We made the exam based on the current high school education curriculum in all the five parts of the test, and tried not to burden the test takers too much."
During the 25-minute long English listening test from 1:10 to 1:35 PM, silence fell across the country.
The government banned flights from taking off and landing, and restricted military drills.... so that the noise did not disturb those taking the tests.
Every year, test takers copy a short phrase printed on the paper to verify their identity through handwriting.
This year, they wrote down a line from a poem: "You, the one in a million"... a phrase selected by this year's test makers to offer encouragement.
Bae Eun-ji, Arirang News.
