A Group Of Teachers is Suspected of Giving Illegal Tutoring

At Paichai High School, located in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, where a teacher filled out an exam answer sheet on behalf of a prosecutor’s son, there are also allegations that a group of teachers illegally tutored the student and that there were also other attempts of exam cheating committed in the past.

From the very start, the teacher (42), identified by his surname Oh, who helped the prosecutor’s son by filling out his exam answer sheet, rented an office in T building located in Gil-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, to tutor the student. More testimony from nearby shopkeepers revealed that other teachers also often came in and out of the building.

Furthermore, as the monthly rent of the office has been revealed to have been paid by prosecutor A’s wife, the suspicions concerning the relationship between prosecutor A and Oh have increased.

Suspicions of Illegal Group Tutoring-

The owner of a nearby dry cleaners from the building commented that the son of prosecutor A stayed in, said, “When making a clothes delivery to the office, the student was with the teacher. I have never seen the student ride the elevator with anybody his age.”

An owner of a nearby restaurant said, “When I asked Oh if the student was his son, he answered that the boy was his nephew.”

Mr. Kwon, who is the owner of this building, said, “The contract was made at the beginning of last year and every month, Mr. 권 the rent payment of 500,000 won was made under the name of prosecutor A’s wife, excluding this month’s which was made under the name of prosecutor A.”

Also, as pictures of the teachers suspected of participating in the illegal tutoring to the student were shown to nearby shopkeepers, they testified that “they are the people who often came in and out of the building.”

As a result, the suspicion that a group of teachers of this school has been giving tutoring to the student is on the rise.

Kim, a teacher at Paichai High School stated in a statement submitted to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education that “even though K teacher, who is close with Oh teacher, was a third grade supervisor, K teacher often asked Kim teacher, who is supervising first year math, for the types of math problems he gave out in his tests.” K teacher is one of the teachers the shopkeepers testified entered in and out of the building.

“There Was More Exam Cheating”-

There are more testimonies that other teachers beside Oh teacher also participated in acts of exam cheating.

During the second semester of 2003, when a student only filled out half of his OMR card for his English test, the next day, the supervising teacher asked an English teacher, Park, for the students OMR card to fill in the answers on behalf of the student.

Kim said, “Since I shouted out loud ‘who are you to make a powerless period-contract teacher get involved in a shameless crime,’ there has been one time when the situation died out.”

It has been said that Oh had often bragged about his strong ties with the prosecutor during 2001 when the principal was accused of embezzling a make-up class fee the and when an athlete who was in middle school died during training in July 2004.

Kim stated, “Regarding the reason why he volunteered to supervise a first grade class instead of the third-year class which he has so far supervised, Oh answered that ‘since I have received much help from the prosecutor, who is a Seoul High School graduate, I have to help his son.”

“How Could This Happen at Paichai?”-

As the exam cheating scandal occurred in Paichai High School, a private prestigious school with 120 years of history, established in 1885, the currently enrolled students and their parents are in a state of shock.

An English teacher of Paichai High School said, “The complaints and questions from currently enrolled students and their parents are endless. Even graduates are constantly calling to protest, saying, ‘I had pride for being a graduate of Paichai High School, but how could something like this happen?’”

On the school web site, someone with the ID “Paichai High School clique” who graduated from the school 23 years ago wrote, “I have constantly praised my old school to my son, but what can I say to him now?”