KOREA: Government accuses EBS of fraud

Education Broadcasting Station claims that questions for the national college entrance exam are taken from its material

The Korea Herald
Thursday, November 17, 2005

By Sung So-young
 
The National Assembly has found that the Education Broadcasting Station (EBS) has been falsifying claims that since 2003, over 80 percent of questions from the national college entrance exam were taken from its educational materials.

EBS airs online lectures and publishes more than 400 study materials for students.

Lawmakers said that EBS has been cheating students and parents by saying that its exam questions are identical to the ones on the national college exam.

EBS has made large profits from the educational materials.

"EBS must stop saying that its materials have the same questions as the college entrance exam," said Shim Jae-chul, of the Grand National Party. "The government will urge EBS to lower the prices of their educational materials. EBS should also donate money to charities."

In 2003, the Education Ministry began allowing some national exam questions to be extracted from EBS studying materials. It was a way to help families reduce private education costs.

About 70 percent of Korean students use EBS study materials, according to the National Assembly.

Date Posted: 11/17/2005