SEOUL (Yonhap) - About 400 students gathered at a rally in downtown Seoul Saturday to protest the government's plan to introduce a more competitive college admission exam system.
Police, who originally expected thousands of high-school freshmen to join the rally at a park in Kwanghwamun, withdrew most of their 6,000-strong force from the scene.
About 400 students stage a candlelight vigil to protest a government plan to introduce a more competitive college admission exam system in 2008 in front of Kyobo Building, Kwanghwamun, central Seoul, Saturday evening. The teen civic group "Hope for Youth of the 21st Century Community" organized the event where a fewerthan- expected number of students participated. Korea Times
|
Police did not blockade the streets to the park.
Organizers of the rally proceeded in a peaceful manner and distributed leaflets mourning the students who committed suicide under severe pressure for the nation's competitive college entrance exam.
Participants held pickets, brochures and some wore masks to hide their faces from teachers who had tried to dissuade them from attending the rally.
The rally ended peacefully at around 8:20 p.m., just over one hour after it began.
Aside from the rally in downtown Seoul, no more were held in other provincial cities, although police initially feared a rash of demonstrations may spring up in major urban centers.
A 17-year-old student from a high school in Kangnam, southern
Seoul, said, ``About 50 of my friends intended to come to the rally but most did not appear because teachers dissuaded us from joining the rally.’’
Another student, who identified herself by her family name Choi said, ``My friends these days are back-stabbing each other and even study when they are on a school excursion because of the tense competition to get higher marks in school exams.’’
The government and school authorities have warned against the planned high-school students' protest as organizers were using cell phone messages to call for a nationwide demonstration.
``We are not guinea pigs, we are not samples for the new admission system,’’ one of the messages said.
Thousands of students, mostly in the first year of high school and facing dramatic changes in the nation's college admission system, were expected to gather for a candlelight vigil.
School authorities said that it would take punitive measures against students who instigate or participate in the protests against a government-proposed exam system in which universities will give more weight to high-school grades than to university admissions tests.
The system will go into effect in 2008, affecting those who are now first-year high schoolers who complain about heavier pressure as every end-of-semester exam now plays a bigger role in determining their chances of being accepted by colleges later on.
