students harmed by 90 seconds during an exam file a complaint against the government

It is not just any exam but the “Suneung”, the one which determines their entry to university. It ended 90 seconds earlier than expected. The students feel seriously wronged and file a complaint for damages.

We’ve all been there: the bell ringing, the teacher shouting: “End of the test, put down your pens!“And you, who cling to your paper to scratch for a few more seconds, write at full speed the last words missing from your sentence, ric rac before the copy is snatched from your hands with an intransigent gesture.

In South Korea too, students experience this kind of stress, especially since they are very particular about punctuality. The BBC (which takes over the Yonhap news agency) tells us that in Seoul, 39 high school students who took the university entrance exam a month ago have filed a complaint. They are claiming 20 million won, or 14,000 euros (each) for damages, on the grounds that, on the first event of the day, which was the Korean language, the bell rang 90 seconds before the end of regulation time. 14,000 euros is the amount of costs incurred over a year, since they estimate they will have to retake the exam next year.

Faced with their protests, the teachers nevertheless tried to work things out. Before the start of the next test, they returned the papers to the candidates and gave them 1 minute 30 minutes to complete what they had to do. It wasn’t enough. THE candidates were so upset that they were unable to concentrate on the rest of the tests, maintains their lawyer. Some even gave up and returned home. How 90 short seconds can cause you to fail your exam, derail your career path, or even ruin your professional career…

A hyper-competitive system

We must realize that this exam, the “Suneung”, is one of the most difficult in the world in an ultra-competitive education system. Students have been preparing for this since their first day of school. Their ranking will dictate their future by determining their university, their place of residence, their future social relationships, their profession… Conglomerates like Samsung, Hyundai or LG where you can spend your entire career recruit in the best establishments – to which you only gain access if you have successfully completed your “Suneung”.

The stakes are that of a lifetime, to the point that, in order not to distract the students, that day, the planes remain grounded, the stores are closed, the construction sites stopped, the schedules of the companies modified. And while the candidates sweat, the parents who have spent a fortune on private lessons (on average 300 euros per month per child) spend the day praying at the Buddhist temple that everything goes well.

These students who filed a complaint have a chance of winning, because this is not the first time that such an event has happened. In April, a Seoul court awarded around 5,000 euros to high school students who claimed they were wronged in 2021 because the bell rang about two minutes too early. What to give ideas to French high school graduates?