Each autumn, South Korea comes to a standstill for its notorious college entrance exam.
Shops are shut, air travel is postponed to reduce noise, and even the rhythm of the daily travel decelerates for the test-takers.
As evening approaches, most test-takers exit of examination centers, breathing a sigh of relief and embracing the family members waiting outside.
However, some individuals concludes at that time. Even once night has fallen and evening arrives, some students are still in the exam room – completing nearly 22:00.
They are the blind students, who frequently devote over half a day completing the most extended form of the college entrance exam.
The Marathon Test
On Thursday, over half a million examinees across the country will take the Suneung – a shortened form for university admissions exam in the local language. It is the largest figure of applicants in seven years.
This examination not only dictates if students can enter college, but may influence their job prospects, earnings, where they will live and including future relationships.
Based on their subject choices, students answer approximately two hundred problems across language, math, foreign language, social or natural sciences, an additional foreign language, and Hanja.
Typically, it is an full-day marathon of consecutive tests. They begin the Suneung test at 8:40 AM and conclude approximately 17:40.
Blind students with significant sight challenges, however, are given almost double the regular exam time.
Consequently, if they take the additional foreign language part, the test can finish as late as 21:48 – nearly thirteen hours after it started.
Without any evening meal; the exam proceeds uninterrupted.
The physical bulk of the braille test papers also contributes to the length.
As each phrase, mark and diagram is converted into braille, each test booklet transforms into significantly more voluminous than the regular version.
Student Perspectives
At Seoul Hanbit School for the Blind, teenage Han Donghyun is among the examinees who will take the longest version of the exam this year.
Previously, there were over a hundred visually impaired examinees across the country – ninety-nine with low vision and twelve with severe visual impairments like Dong-hyun – according to data from the ministry.
The student was visually impaired from birth and is unable to perceive light.
During an interview at his school, his hands moved rapidly across a tactile training material of previous test problems.
Approaching the examination date, he was focused on managing his endurance and physical state. Dong-hyun will take the exam using tactile materials and a audio assistance device.
"The fatigue is significant because the test duration is extensive," he mentioned. "But there's no special trick. I just follow my study schedule and try to manage my well-being. This approach is essential."
The student said the Korean language section is especially challenging for him.
Regular examination materials for that section is approximately 16 sheets – but the tactile edition is roughly one hundred pages long.
Even with audio assistance, spoken information vanishes as immediately after it is perceived, unlike text that can be viewed and re-read. Dong-hyun has to retain information in his recall as he goes.
The mathematics section is no easier.
He needs to comprehend detailed charts and tables that have been transformed into tactile format, using only his fingertips.
Nevertheless, he observed that conditions have improved than they used to be. Historically, students had to do almost all computations in their heads. However, recently, visually impaired students have been allowed to use a tactile device, known as the assistive tool.
"Similar to those with vision document their calculations in pencil, we input them in tactile format on the device to follow the steps," he explained.
Physical Demands
A different examinee at Hanbit School, 18-year-old a test-taker, who will also sit the exam currently, said the late afternoon are "the most difficult period" of the session.
"Up until lunch, it's manageable," he said. "However, during late afternoon, after English and prior to history, that period it gets really tough.
"There's no dinner break," he elaborated. "We're solving problems during the time we would typically dine, so it feels even more exhausting. Nevertheless, I persist because I know there will be a sense of accomplishment at the conclusion."
For Jeong-won, the fatigue is intensified by the need to stay highly concentrated with both his hands and his hearing.
"When I'm reading the tactile information with my fingers and simultaneously receiving content through sound, it feels much more tiring than it does for sighted students," he said.
Accessibility Barriers
However, examinees say that the length of the exam and the long study hours are not the primary challenge. What is most challenging is access to study materials.
Popular textbooks and online lectures that sighted students depend on are often inaccessible.
There are very few braille versions, and converting materials into sound needs having digital documents – which are hard to acquire. In many cases, individuals must personally input complete materials to create accessibility.
Online lectures also pose difficulties, as many instructors explain concepts using written annotations, diagrams and images on display, which cannot be followed through sound only.
A major obstacle, though, is the postponement in obtaining tactile editions of the state-produced EBS preparation books – a core set of resources closely linked to the standardized test.
Due to this postponement, visually impaired examinees often receive the materials with significant delay than their peers.
"Those with vision get their EBS books early in the year and use them for the whole year," explained the student. "We receive the tactile materials approximately in late summer, when the exam is just a few months away."
The student expressed the identical worry.
"Tactile resources weren't completed until under three months before the exam," he mentioned. "I consistently hoped the production timeline could be faster."
The responsible organization, which produces the braille version of EBS exam materials, explained that the process takes at least 90 days for each book because it must follow specific regulations.
The institute added that it is "making various efforts to guarantee that visually impaired examinees can study uninterrupted, including producing and supplying the resources in individual sections."
The Korean Blind Union indicated it has consistently presented these concerns with {author
