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From Straits Times, 13 Nov.

SEOUL - RUSH hour was rescheduled, aircraft landings were delayed and even the stock market opened late as more than half a million South Korean children sat a crucial examination on Thursday.

Parents could be seen praying outside schools where their kids were taking the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), a decisive factor in determining future careers.

At Incheon city near Seoul younger students and graduates lined up outside a high school, cheering on test applicants and handing them cups of coffee and tea before their ordeal.

Military training exercises nationwide were suspended and military aircraft grounded to avoid noise during audio foreign language tests, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff told wires agencies.

Seven inbound flights to the country’s main airport Incheon were told to stay at an altitude of 10,000 feet as students took the first audio test that lasted 13 minutes.

‘We have been forewarning all airlines about the restriction over the past month so that they may adjust flight schedules to avoid landing during the hearing test sessions,’ an air traffic controller said.

The stock market, government agencies and many private firms opened one hour later to ease morning traffic jams that could cause students to be late.

‘Dealers and investors take it for granted since CSAT is considered so important in this country,’ said Mr Hong Joon Yon, spokesman for the Korea Securities Dealers Association.

At the presidential Blue House First Lady Kim Yoon Ok reportedly sent rice cakes to the children of Blue House employees who were due to take the exam.

Rice cakes, whose stickiness symbolises sticking to success, are a favourite lucky gift for CSAT day together with candies.

Education authorities said about 590,000 students sat the day-long exam at nearly 1,000 centres. To prevent cheating, they were banned from carrying electronic gadgets such as mobile phones or MP3 players.

Some 14,000 police officers as well as 6,800 taxi drivers and more than 4,200 police vehicles were on stand-by to help students arrive in time, Yonhap news agency said.

Subways and buses ran more frequently in the morning.

In the southeastern city of Ulsan, 11 emergency vehicles and 22 rescuers were deployed at key intersections to help students who overslept to arrive at test sites on time.

Critics say the CSAT exam tests rote learning and sometimes involves expensive private tutoring.

It plays a decisive role in deciding which colleges and universities students enter, and thus their future careers. In Korea, great emphasis is placed on attendance at a prestigious university.

An estimated 200 stressed students commit suicide in South Korea every year, according to police statistics.

‘CSAT tends to favour students whose brains are crammed through rote learning and it fails to select students with potential and creativity,’ Mr Song In Soo, an educational activist, told the wires.

‘We must shift to a more advanced system through which students are tested, observed and developed over a long time instead of a one-off, multiple-answer test like CSAT.’ — AFP

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