Applicants in protective suits appear and ‘After SAT’ disappears at night

On the morning of Day 3, the morning of the SAT exam, an examinee in a white full-body protective suit and plastic gloves is heading for the exam at Bupyeong High School in Incheon. [연합뉴스]

With the unprecedented pandemic of the college entrance examination (SAT), unprecedented scenes were followed across the country. All examinees solved problems at partitioned desks while wearing masks, and confirmed that patients with a new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) underwent a facial wall test in a negative pressure room. In Incheon, candidates were also seen wearing white full-length protective clothing.

At 7 am on the 3rd, in front of the gate of Seocho High School in Seoul, the faculty and staff inspected the examinees one by one and asked, “Put the mask on to the end.” Unlike in previous years, there were no voices to encourage the old and the young to come together and shout out loud. On this day, when the national lowest temperature reached -2 ​​degrees Celsius, examinees wearing masks entered the test site with hot compresses in one hand and lunch bags in the other.

On day 3, a body temperature measuring robot is installed at Banpo High School in Seoul. [연합뉴스]

Ahn Soo-jin (18), who met in front of Yeouido Girls’ high school in Seoul, said, “It wasn’t because of Corona 19, but I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to take the test due to the fever.” Jo Ye-hyun (18) said, “I haven’t taken a test with a partition, so I’m worried that my usual skills won’t come out.”

In the real time of the exam, there were cases where concentration was lost due to the screen. Shin Joo-hye (18), who attends Gyeongin High School, said: “An examinee fell into an empty seat during the exam.” Lee Ha-seon (18), a senior at Gocheok High School, also confessed, “I felt uncomfortable because the exams were still stuck in the space between the desk and the screen.

The parents could not hide their regret. Han Soon-gyeong, 45, said, “If my daughter had been born in December and I could turn back time, I would not have had a child in 2002,” she said. “Before the exam, I set up a tent in my daughter’s room and not even my 3 middle brothers could go to the reading room.” Jo Jung-hee (53) also said, “It’s a shame that the examinees this year suffer a lot.”

On the 3rd, a supervisor at the examination center in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, wore sanitary gloves. [연합뉴스]

Meanwhile, 41 confirmed corona19 patients and 4 patients with other diseases looked at separate locations prepared for each region. At the Seoul Medical Center that day, five examinees performed the test in a negative pressure room dedicated to them. Until the day before the SAT, 4 people were supposed to see it, but 1 was added during the night.

All examination procedures were the same as for general candidates. However, the test was carried out under the guidance of a supervisor wearing protective clothing. In a hospital room, four people performed the “facial wall test.” During breaks, the bathroom was used in the hospital room and meals were only available in the hospital room.

Although the SAT has ended, the test takers have yet to get on with their life in “zipkok”. Lee Se-eun (19), who attends a high school in Nam-gu, Gwangju, complained on day 3: “After the SAT, I really wanted to take a trip abroad. Eun-seo Yoo, 19 years old , from Bansong High School in Gyeonggi-do, said, “I wanted to play with my friends or take a trip, but I couldn’t.

The distribution industry is also reducing the commercialization of ‘After SAT’ by strengthening social distancing. Shinsegae department store decided not to host the SAT event this year, and Hyundai department store also drastically reduced their event locations and stores. CJ Olive Young also doesn’t have candidate marketing.

On this day, the SAT was held at 8:40 a.m. in 86 test districts and 31291 test rooms across the country. The number of candidates was 49.3433, a decrease of 55.301 (10.1%) from last year. It is the smallest since 1994 when the SAT system was introduced. The management and supervision and quarantine personnel were 12,708 people.

Reporters Kim Ji-ah, Pyeon Kwang-hyun, Jung Jong-hoon, and Park Hyun-ju [email protected]