CSAT Bell-Ringing Mishap: Students Go for $17,000 Each in Compensation

Students who suffered from the sudden ringing of the end-of-exam bell at the Seoul Kyungdong High School test site on the day of the 2024 CSAT filed a group lawsuit against the education authorities on the 19th.

The law firm Myeongjin, which is representing the students of Seoul Kyungdong High School, announced that it would file a complaint with the Seoul Central District Court for damage compensation of 20 million won (approximately $17,000) per person on behalf of 39 students who suffered from the bell-ringing accident during the CSAT.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, the end-of-exam bell rang 1 minute and 30 seconds early during the first period of Korean language time at Kyungdong High School in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, on the day of the CSAT last month. This happened when teacher A accidentally touched the mouse while setting the time.

Myeongjin law firm pointed out that despite the bell-ringing accident happening more than a month ago, the education authorities have not apologized to the affected students, explained the circumstances of the bell-ringing, or presented measures to prevent recurrence. Furthermore, Myeongjin claimed that teacher A used an iPad, not an item provided by the Ministry of Education, to check the bell-ringing time, based on the testimony of students and parents.

Myeongjin claimed that teacher A made a mistake in ringing the bell by misreading the time while turning on the screen of the iPad that had turned off in the middle. There are automatic and manual methods for ringing the bell during the CSAT, and many test sites still manually ring the bell due to concerns about system errors.

The school, realizing the mistake, redistributed the first-period Korean language test paper to the students after the second period ended. The students received 1 minute and 30 seconds to solve the problem and write their answers, but they couldn’t make any corrections on the answer sheet.

The students claimed they could not perform at their usual level because they had to take the test, knowing they had messed up the test due to the bell-ringing accident. Some students reportedly gave up on the test and went home.

They claimed it took about 25 minutes to distribute and collect the test papers during the 1 and 30 seconds given at lunchtime for the additional test, leaving only 25 minutes of the original 50-minute lunch break, which also affected the subsequent tests.

According to Myeongjin, some affected students scored lower than they did on the mock test. One student scored 73 on the Korean language section in the mock test in September but scored 48 on the CSAT. A student, previously ranked first in the Korean language during the September mock test, dropped to third rank this time. However, experts evaluate this year’s CSAT Korean language section as significantly more challenging than last year’s, earning the label “impossible to study for.”

Attorney Kim Woosuk, the representative of Myeongjin law firm, argued, “Even though a bell-ringing accident occurred three years ago, the Ministry of Education did not distribute a specific manual to prevent bell-ringing accidents,” and “We need to establish measures to prevent recurrence in the future and at least compensate the affected students for the cost of retaking the exam for one year.”

Previously, in December 2020, an accident occurred when the end-of-exam bell rang about 3 minutes early during the first elective subject time of the fourth period of the CSAT at a test site at Deokwon Girls’ High School in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. In response, 25 students and parents who were unable to solve the problem due to the sudden situation correctly claimed 8 million won (approximately $6,800) in damages per person against the state and the city of Seoul. In the second trial last April, the court ruled that the state should pay 7 million won (approximately $5,950) per person.

By. Keon Yul Lee