Lee says gov't will continue standardized exams despite controversy

(ATTN: UPDATES with education minister's apology at bottom)
SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Yonhap) -- The government will continue to hold standardized
aptitude exams reintroduced last year after a ten-year hiatus, President Lee
Myung-bak said Monday amid a controversy over alleged score rigging by regional
education authorities.

"I am aware there were in part some problems as the tests were held for the first
time among schools on an individual basis," Lee said in his bi-weekly radio
address.
"We need to set up a perfect evaluation system by rectifying the problems that we
have seen," he said, demanding a full probe into alleged score manipulation by
regional school authorities.
Schools and regional education authorities are suspected of intentionally fudging
test scores, some allegedly excluding lagging students from the test pool or
recording higher scores than actually measured.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology revived the nationwide
scholastic achievement test after 10 years, part of President Lee's
market-oriented education reform drive aimed at enhancing achievement through
competition.
Critics say the policy will only fuel the nation's already overheated private
education fervor and stratify the schools.
The president also urged colleges to introduce more diversified means of student
selection to better reflect untapped potential among applicants, as opposed to
conventional score-oriented admissions.
"We should do away with the current score-oriented selection process to change
our university enrollment system," the president said.
Lee also underscored that the country must "improve the system so that students,
even those with lower grades, are admitted to universities based on their
potential and creativity."
The National Statistical Office (NSO) reported last year that the nation's
private education market was worth slightly over 20 trillion won (US$13.3
billion) in 2007. According to the NSO survey, 77 percent of primary and
secondary students attend various out-of-school classes.
Ahn Byong-man, the education minister, apologized Monday at a National Assembly
committee session for the controversy but echoed Lee's view that the standardized
exams need to be administered.
"There needs to be continued progress in the exam system," Ahn told the committee.
"But I sincerely apologize for the discomfort felt by the people from the errors
in the announcement (of the test results)," he said.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)