SAT instructor barred from leaving the country

By Oh Seok-min
SEOUL, Feb. 10, (Yonhap) -- Police said Wednesday they have barred a star tutor
at a private prep center from leaving the country due to suspicions that he stole
copies of the U.S. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).

Police said they believe Jeffery Sohn, known as one of South Korea's best
instructors in preparing for the writing section of the SAT, could have stolen
test papers because the 39-year-old instructor posted some exam questions and
answers on his Web site.
In one of his postings, Sohn said that the January 2007 test was the same as the
one in December 2005. He posted the message just three and a half hours before
the 2007 exam began in the United States, suggesting that he took advantage of
the time difference between test sites in the U.S. and foreign countries.
In 2007, the U.S.-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) canceled the scores of
about 900 South Korean students, saying that some of the questions for the
January test were leaked to some of the students in advance.
The ETS strictly forbids the disclosure of SAT test papers. Police have widened
their probe into the SAT scam since last month, when another case involving
leaked test questions was discovered.
SAT scores are weighed in considering college admissions applicants in the United
States.
Going to U.S. universities has become popular among South Koreans who are not
satisfied with the level of education offered here, as well as those who cannot
get into the most competitive Korean universities.
There are more South Koreans studying at U.S. schools of all levels than foreign
students from any other country, according to U.S. government statistics, which
counted 103,000 South Korean students. In higher education, only India and China
-- countries with populations more than 20 times that of South Korea's -- send
more students.
In 2008, South Korean households spent 20.9 trillion won (US$18 billion) on
private education to supplement the perceived shortcomings of the public school
system, and the number of private educational institutes has increased nearly
50-fold since 1970, according to the education ministry.
graceoh@yna.co.kr
(END)

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