The Board of Audit and Inspection announced on the 18th that it had identified 249 educators who produced and sold exam questions, including mock tests, for private education companies and received bribes. It estimated that these individuals earned a total of 21.29 billion won, averaging 85 million won per person.
On the same day, the Board of Audit and Inspection released the results of its examination on the participation of teachers and others in the private education market.
This audit targeted high school teachers in six metropolitan areas, including Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Busan. Among them, it focused on cases where teachers received over 50 million won in return for producing and selling questions to private education companies from 2018 to 2022.
The act of teachers writing questions for the College Scholastic Ability Test and school exams or for Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) related materials is a violation of the 'National Civil Service Act.' The Board of Audit and Inspection noted that such acts are also considered violations of the anti-corruption law.
The scale of transactions between teachers and the private education industry was highest in the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas, totaling 19.88 billion won (93.4%). In Seoul, it is reported that the bulk of the transaction occurred in areas with a concentration of large private education companies, such as Daechi-dong and Mokdong, totaling 16.05 billion won (75.4%).
By subject, the amounts were as follows: science (6.62 billion won), mathematics (5.71 billion won), social studies (3.77 billion won), English (3.1 billion won), and Korean (2.08 billion won).
Among the major transaction cases between teachers and the private education industry, high school teacher A received a total of 610 million won from eight companies, including producing and selling mock test questions to private instructors B since 2015.
There was also a case where a current teacher organized with other teachers to provide questions to private education companies. Teacher C recruited six educators in 2019 to form a question supply organization and delivered over 2,000 questions to private instructors by June 2023. In return, they received 320 million won, some of which C transferred to their spouse's account.
The Board of Audit and Inspection also released the findings regarding disciplinary actions related to question 23 of the English section of the 2023 College Scholastic Ability Test. The question for the English test contained a passage that had been previously provided by a famous instructor right before the test, sparking controversy over 'prior leakage.'
The controversy over question 23 of the English test relates to concerns about inadequate verification by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation. Reports indicate that the evaluation institute purchased mock tests from a famous instructor in the 2021 and 2022 tests but skipped it only in 2023. As a result, it failed to filter out the questions featured in private mock tests.
The Board of Audit and Inspection urged the national university to exercise caution regarding the university professors and demanded that three evaluators accountable for irregular handling of question setting and appeals face disciplinary action (dismissal, suspension, or light punishment).
The Ministry of Education responded to the findings announced on the same day by stating, "We will actively pursue institutional improvements and take appropriate actions concerning related personnel in consultation with relevant agencies, and we will strengthen supervision to prevent recurrence in the future."
교육부는 이날 감사원의 감사 결과 발표에 대해 “제도개선 사항에 대해서는 제도개선을 적극 추진하고, 관련자 조치는 관계 기관과 협의해 추진할 예정”이라며 “향후 재발 방지를 위해 지도 감독을 철저히 하겠다”고 밝혔다.