Blind college students sit 13-hour school entry examination in South Korea

[ad_1] <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/e4b2/live/827a5fb0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/e4b2/live/827a5fb0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/e4b2/live/827a5fb0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/e4b2/live/827a5fb0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/e4b2/live/827a5fb0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/e4b2/live/827a5fb0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/e4b2/live/827a5fb0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/e4b2/live/827a5fb0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="BBC/Hosu Lee Han Dong-hyun from Seoul School for the Blind reads a braille practice exam, with the standard printed version placed beside it" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> BBC/Hosu Lee Han Dong-hyun, a pupil at Seoul Hanbit Faculty for the Blind, is amongst those that will take the "longest model" of the notorious Suneung examination

Each November, South Korea involves a standstill for its notorious school entrance examination.

Outlets are shut, flights are delayed to scale back noise, and even the rhythm of the morning commute slows down for the scholars.

By late afternoon, most test-takers stroll out of faculty gates, exhaling with reduction and embracing the members of the family ready exterior.

However not everybody finishes at that hour. Even as soon as darkness has absolutely settled and night time has set in, some college students are nonetheless within the examination room - ending near 10pm.

They're the blind college students, who usually spend greater than 12 hours taking the longest model of the Suneung.

On Thursday, greater than 550,000 college students throughout the nation will sit for the Suneung - an abbreviation for School Scholastic Skill Take a look at (CSAT) in Korean. It's the highest variety of candidates in seven years.

The take a look at not solely dictates whether or not folks will have the ability to go to school, however can have an effect on their job prospects, earnings, the place they'll reside and even future relationships.

Relying on their topic selections, college students reply roughly 200 questions throughout Korean, arithmetic, English, social or pure sciences, a further overseas language, and Hanja (classical Chinese language characters utilized in Korean).

For many college students, it's an eight-hour marathon of back-to-back exams. They start the Suneung take a look at at 08:40 and end round 17:40.

Blind college students with extreme visible impairments, nonetheless, are given 1.7 instances the usual testing period.

Which means in the event that they take the extra overseas language part, the examination can end as late as 21:48 - almost 13 hours after it started.

There isn't a dinner break; the examination continues straight by.

The bodily bulk of the braille take a look at papers additionally contributes to the size.

When each sentence, image and diagram is transformed into braille, every take a look at booklet turns into six to 9 instances thicker than the usual equal.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/cb4c/live/f73b7140-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/cb4c/live/f73b7140-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/cb4c/live/f73b7140-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/cb4c/live/f73b7140-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/cb4c/live/f73b7140-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/cb4c/live/f73b7140-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/cb4c/live/f73b7140-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/cb4c/live/f73b7140-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="BBC/Hosu Lee Two hands on a braille practice booklet for the Suneung exam " class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> BBC/Hosu Lee The fixed friction from studying braille for hours straight could make college students' palms sore

At Seoul Hanbit Faculty for the Blind, 18-year-old Han Donghyun is among the many college students who will take the longest model of the Suneung this yr.

Final yr, there have been 111 blind test-takers nationwide - 99 with low imaginative and prescient and 12 with extreme visible impairments like Dong-hyun - in accordance with information from the Ministry of Schooling and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Analysis.

Dong-hyun was born utterly blind and can't distinguish gentle.

When the BBC met him at his college on 7 November, his fingers moved shortly throughout a braille follow booklet of previous examination questions.

With only a week left earlier than the take a look at, he was centered on managing his stamina and situation. Dong-hyun will take the examination utilizing braille take a look at papers and a screen-reading pc.

"It is actually exhausting as a result of the examination is so lengthy," he mentioned. "However there is no particular trick. I simply observe my examine schedule and attempt to handle my situation. That is the one means."

Dong-hyun mentioned the Korean language part is especially tough for him.

A regular take a look at booklet for that part is about 16 pages - however the braille model is roughly 100 pages lengthy.

Even with screen-reading software program, spoken data disappears as quickly as it's heard, in contrast to textual content that may be seen and re-read. Dong-hyun has to carry the small print in his reminiscence as he goes.

The arithmetic part isn't any simpler.

He should interpret complicated graphs and tables which have been transformed into braille, utilizing solely his fingertips.

Nonetheless, he famous that issues are higher than they was. Previously, college students needed to do virtually all calculations of their heads. However since 2016, blind test-takers have been allowed to make use of a braille notetaker, often known as Hansone.

"Identical to sighted college students write out their calculations in pencil, we enter them in braille on the Hansone to observe the steps," he mentioned.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/6ca5/live/a1e9dbf0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/6ca5/live/a1e9dbf0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6ca5/live/a1e9dbf0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/6ca5/live/a1e9dbf0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/6ca5/live/a1e9dbf0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/6ca5/live/a1e9dbf0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/6ca5/live/a1e9dbf0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6ca5/live/a1e9dbf0-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="BBC/Hosu Lee Students sit at their desks with their hands placed on braille display devices" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> BBC/Hosu Lee College students like Oh Jeong-won should use braille show gadgets through the examination

One other pupil at Hanbit Faculty for the Blind, 18-year-old Oh Jeong-won, who may also sit the Suneung this yr, mentioned the late afternoon is "the toughest level" of the day.

"Up till lunch, it is manageable," he mentioned. "However round 4 or 5pm, after English and earlier than Korean Historical past, that is when it will get actually powerful.

"There is no dinner break," he defined. "We're fixing issues through the time we might usually eat, so it feels much more exhausting. Nonetheless, I maintain going as a result of I do know there will probably be a way of accomplishment on the finish."

For Jeong-won, the fatigue is compounded by the necessity to keep intensely centered with each his palms and his listening to.

"After I'm studying the braille with my fingers and likewise taking in data by audio, it feels rather more tiring than it does for sighted college students," he mentioned.

However the college students say that the size of the examination and the lengthy examine hours will not be the toughest half. What's most difficult is entry to check supplies.

Widespread textbooks and on-line lectures that sighted college students depend on are sometimes out of attain.

There are only a few braille variations, and changing supplies into audio requires having textual content recordsdata - that are tough to acquire. In lots of circumstances, somebody has to manually sort out whole workbooks to make them usable.

On-line lectures additionally pose difficulties, as many instructors clarify ideas utilizing visible notes, diagrams and graphics on display screen, which can't be adopted by audio alone.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/bb45/live/c7465f90-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/bb45/live/c7465f90-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/bb45/live/c7465f90-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/bb45/live/c7465f90-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/bb45/live/c7465f90-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/bb45/live/c7465f90-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/bb45/live/c7465f90-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/bb45/live/c7465f90-bf8c-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="BBC/Hosu Lee Students wearing over-ear headphone sit at desks in front of computers screens and use screen readers and braille" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> BBC/Hosu Lee Forward of the Suneung examination, Han Dong-hyun and Oh Jeong-won resolve previous questions utilizing a display screen reader and braille

One of the important boundaries, nonetheless, is the delay in receiving braille variations of the state-produced EBS preparation books - a core set of supplies carefully linked to the nationwide examination.

Due to this delay, blind college students usually obtain the supplies months later than others.

"Sighted college students get their EBS books between January and March and examine them for the entire yr," mentioned Jeong-won. "We obtain the braille recordsdata solely round August or September, when the examination is only a few months away."

Dong-hyun shared the identical concern.

"The braille supplies weren't accomplished till lower than 90 days earlier than the examination," he mentioned. "I saved wishing the publication course of might be sooner."

The Nationwide Institute of Particular Schooling, which produces the braille model of EBS examination supplies, instructed the BBC that the method takes a minimum of three months for every guide as a result of it should observe related pointers.

The institute added that it's "making varied efforts to make sure that blind college students can examine with out disruption, reminiscent of producing and offering the supplies in separate volumes."

The Korean Blind Union mentioned it has lengthy raised this problem with authorities, and plans to file a constitutional petition demanding higher accessibility to braille variations of all textbooks.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/ccf9/live/10f8cc40-bf8d-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/ccf9/live/10f8cc40-bf8d-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/ccf9/live/10f8cc40-bf8d-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/ccf9/live/10f8cc40-bf8d-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/ccf9/live/10f8cc40-bf8d-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/ccf9/live/10f8cc40-bf8d-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/ccf9/live/10f8cc40-bf8d-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/ccf9/live/10f8cc40-bf8d-11f0-af65-43e046963d80.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="BBC/Hosu Lee A classroom full of students at their desks, using braille materials and magnifiers, while a teacher stands in front of the whiteboard

" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> BBC/Hosu Lee For blind college students, the Suneung examination can final for greater than 12 hours

For these college students, the Suneung isn't just a university entrance examination - it is proof of the years they've endured to get the place they're.

Jeong-won described the examination as "perseverance."

"There's virtually nothing you are able to do in life with out perseverance," he mentioned. "I believe this time is a course of of coaching my will."

Their trainer, Kang Seok-ju, watches college students undergo the examination yearly - and mentioned the blind college students' endurance is "exceptional".

"Studying braille means tracing raised dots along with your fingertips. The fixed friction could make their palms fairly sore," he identified. "However they do it for hours."

Mr Kang urged his college students to worth completion relatively than remorse.

"This examination is the place you pour every little thing you've got realized because the first grade right into a single day," he mentioned. "Many college students really feel upset afterwards, however I simply need them to depart figuring out they did what they may.