Entrance Exam

North Korean College Entrance Exams to Be Computerized

A computerized grading system for entrance exams to major universities in North Korea will be extended to local colleges beginning in March, but logistical snarls may result as parents in rural areas struggle to get students to the testing sites, according to sources inside the country.

Applicants who previously took handwritten exams—all on the same day—at their local colleges will now have to travel on separate dates to a single location in each province to be tested, a source in North Korea’s northern Chagang province told RFA’s Korean Service.

“The local college entrance exam will be taken at the provincial library in each province. These will be set up with a computerized grading system that the colleges don’t have,” he said.

However, these libraries are too small to accommodate the large number of students who were formerly tested on a single date at separate schools in each province, he added.

“Smaller groups will now have to travel on different days to each library to take the multiple-choice exams,” he said.

Travel woes

Also speaking to RFA, a source in North Korea’s northern Yanggang province voiced concern over potential travel problems and the fairness of the exam.

“In the past, when there was only one exam date, students’ parents could pool their money to rent cars” to take them to the testing sites, he said.

“But now, with testing done on different days, it will be harder for families to do this separately.”

And because some students will now take the exam ahead of others, he said, there is a greater chance that test questions will “leak out” and be shared ahead of time.

Meanwhile, admission to North Korea’s top universities still depends on the “networks and success” of one’s parents, according to a leading North Korea expert.

“Money buys entrance into schools, changes test scores, and even allows one to avoid being called out into the fields to work,” Andrei...