Every November, the nation comes to a standstill for its notorious college admissions test.
Stores close, air travel is postponed to reduce noise, and even the rhythm of the daily travel slows down for the test-takers.
As evening approaches, the majority of examinees walk out of school gates, exhaling with relief and embracing the family members standing by.
However, some individuals concludes at that hour. Even once darkness has fully settled and night has set in, certain test-takers remain in the testing hall – finishing nearly 10pm.
These are the blind students, who often devote over half a day taking the most extended form of the Suneung.
The Marathon Test
On Thursday, more than 550,000 examinees across the country will sit for the CSAT – an abbreviation for university admissions exam in Korean. It is the highest number of test-takers in seven years.
This examination doesn't just determine if students can enter college, but can affect their career opportunities, earnings, where they will live and including personal connections.
Depending on their selected disciplines, examinees answer roughly two hundred questions across language, math, English, social or natural sciences, an additional foreign language, and Chinese characters.
Typically, it is an full-day marathon of consecutive tests. Starting the examination at 8:40 AM and finish approximately 5:40 PM.
Visually impaired test-takers with severe visual impairments, however, are allocated almost double the regular exam time.
This means, if they take the additional foreign language section, the exam can finish as far as 9:48 PM – nearly thirteen hours after it began.
There is no dinner break; the exam continues straight through.
The substantial volume of the braille test papers also contributes to the length.
As each phrase, symbol and chart is transformed into braille, each test booklet transforms into six to nine times more voluminous than the standard equivalent.
Student Perspectives
In a specialized educational institution, teenage a student is one of the examinees who are preparing for the longest version of the exam currently.
Previously, there were 111 visually impaired examinees across the country – ninety-nine with partial sight and twelve with complete visual challenges like Dong-hyun – based on data from educational authorities.
Dong-hyun was visually impaired from birth and is unable to perceive light.
During an interview at his school, his hands moved rapidly across a braille practice booklet of past exam questions.
Approaching the examination date, he was concentrating on managing his endurance and physical state. Dong-hyun will complete the test using tactile materials and a screen-reading computer.
"It's really exhausting because the exam is so long," he said. "However, no unique method exists. I just follow my preparation plan and try to manage my well-being. This approach is essential."
The student said the Korean language section is particularly difficult for him.
Regular examination materials for that section is about 16 sheets – but the tactile edition is about one hundred pages long.
Even with audio assistance, spoken information disappears as soon as it is perceived, contrary to written content that can be viewed and re-read. Dong-hyun has to hold the details in his memory as he goes.
Math component is no easier.
He needs to comprehend complex graphs and tables that have been converted into braille, using only his touch.
Nevertheless, he noted that things are better than they were previously. In the past, students had to do almost all calculations in their memory. But since 2016, visually impaired students have been permitted to use a braille notetaker, known as Hansone.
"Just like sighted students document their work in pencil, we enter them in braille on the Hansone to follow the steps," he said.
Endurance Challenges
Another student at the institution, 18-year-old a test-taker, who will likewise complete the Suneung this year, said the evening hours are "the most difficult period" of the day.
"Before the midday break, it's tolerable," he stated. "However, during late afternoon, following language sections and before Korean History, that's when the challenge intensifies.
"Without an evening meal," he explained. "We're solving problems while we would normally eat, so fatigue increases. Still, I keep going because I understand there will be a feeling of achievement at the conclusion."
For the student, the exhaustion is compounded by the need to stay intensely focused with tactile input and his hearing.
"While processing the tactile information with my fingers and also taking in information through sound, it seems much more tiring than experienced by those with vision," he said.
Accessibility Barriers
But the students say that the test duration and the extended preparation are not the primary challenge. What is most challenging is availability of learning resources.
Common educational materials and online lectures that those with vision depend on are frequently out of reach.
Limited numbers of braille versions, and converting materials into sound needs having text files – which are difficult to obtain. Frequently, someone has to manually type complete materials to make them usable.
Digital instruction present additional challenges, as numerous educators present information using written annotations, illustrations and images on display, which are inaccessible through audio alone.
A major obstacle, however, is the postponement in receiving braille versions of the state-produced study materials – a essential collection of materials directly connected to the standardized test.
Because of this delay, blind students often receive the resources months later than others.
"Sighted students receive materials between January and March and study them for the whole year," explained the student. "We obtain the tactile materials approximately in August or September, when the exam is just a few months away."
Dong-hyun shared the identical worry.
"The braille materials weren't ready before less than 90 days prior to testing," he mentioned. "I consistently hoped the production timeline could be faster."
The responsible organization, which creates the tactile edition of preparation resources, stated that the process requires minimum 90 days for every volume because it must follow relevant guidelines.
The organization further mentioned that it is "implementing multiple initiatives to ensure that visually impaired examinees can learn without disruption, including producing and providing the resources in separate volumes."
The Korean Blind Union said it has consistently presented these concerns with {author
