Students, parents adapt to online learning in preparation for marathon eight-hour test SEOUL: Lee Soo-yeon is much busier nowadays than usual. The 49-year-old housewife and resident of the Seocho-gu district of southern Seoul is pulling out all the stops to support her daughter through the Suneung season, the Korean College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). The infamous eight-hour marathon of back-to-back exams is seen as so important to the future prospects of Korean youth, that many parts of the country come to a halt and flights are grounded during test time so as not to disturb the students. “The coronavirus outbreak has changed everyday life, and for parents in South Korea it’s an anxious time as the pandemic is likely to affect school learning for children ahead of the exams in November,” Soo-yeon told Arab News. As of Wednesday, South Korea had 10,591 recorded cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which had caused 225 deaths. As part of the country"s anti-virus efforts, the Education Ministry introduced a slew of measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, including asking students to attend classes online. The switch, however, had not been easy, Soo-yeon said. At a time of social distancing and to ensure her 19-year-old daughter, Park Min-he, is not impacted by the lockdown, Soo-yeon has taken on the role of an assistant teacher by waking Park up for daily classes and rushing for impromptu meetings with her teachers to pick up study material. “It’s an unusual circumstance for my daughter, so much that she can’t concentrate on the online class for more than 20 minutes. I have to help her not to fall behind in class during this uncertain period.” That, however, has failed to dampen Soo-yeon’s spirits. “If the coronavirus couldn’t break the cycle, nothing will,” she added. The frenzy surrounding exams has long been a social issue in South Korea, where, according to government statistics, about 70 percent of household expenditure goes toward the cost of private education. Achieving a high score – and subsequently gaining an advantage in school – is a testament not only of an individual’s academic abilities but also a mark that seemingly defines the entire course of a South Korean’s destiny. Students begin studying for Suneung from as early as 13 or 14 years old, attending extracurricular studies and private tuitions for up to 16 hours each day. Many dream of entering Korea’s top-tier “Ivy League” universities such as Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University, often referred to by the acronym SKY. “Every year, the national newspapers report how many lawyers, judges and chief executives from big conglomerates graduated from SKY universities. This makes people think, if you go to SKY you can get a good job. It’s why so many parents are so eager to send their children to those universities,” Lee Do-heun, a sociology professor at Yonsei University, told Arab News. Of the hundreds of thousands who take the exam, “only 2 percent make the cut,” while an estimated 70 percent “go on to study at other higher-learning institutions” – continuing the cycle of studies beyond their university days. “Even graduating from a good university doesn’t guarantee one will get a decent job these days since the competition between jobseekers is so tough,” said Do-heun. For some South Korean students, who are used to the tight curriculum, the COVID-19 pandemic has offered a respite. “It’s not so bad. Studying in my place is quite comfortable, and I’ve gotten some relief,” said Lim Jin-woo, 19, who is in his senior year of Hyundai High School in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. “I’m nervous at the same time as to whether the college entrance exam will be taken as normal.” Authorities expect the online education will be a steppingstone for students and alter the country’s education system. “This is a new opportunity for the South Korean education to be moving toward the future,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said at the start of the nationwide online classes on April 9. “This is a new path, so trial and error are expected.”