Dance community calls for strengthening 'fairness and professionalism' in college entrance practical exams

*This content was translated by AI.

The dance community has begun discussions to ensure fairness and professionalism in the college entrance practical exam system.

The seminar titled 'Seminar on Improving the College Entrance Practical Exam System for Dance Majors,' hosted by the Education Committee of the National Assembly Kim Jun-hyeok (Rep.), was attended by representatives from the Korean Association of University Presidents (KAUP), admissions officials from 11 universities, dance department professors, and dance organizations.

Held on the 18th in the KAUP conference room on the 22nd floor, the seminar reached a general consensus on the need to establish supplementary measures for the practical exam system to guarantee fairness and transparency as advocated by KAUP.

In particular, participants agreed that evaluators who have substantial conflicts of interest with specific applicants—such as those providing private lessons, continuous college entrance coaching, choreography instruction, or having familial or financial ties—must be strictly excluded.

However, concerns were raised regarding the specifics. The core issues centered on improving the criteria for excluding and recusing evaluators at practical exam sites. Participants opposed treating the mere fact of having served as an external evaluator under official school appointment for events such as high school admissions or practical exams as grounds for disqualification.

Some argued that broadly applying high school entrance evaluation experience as a basis for restricting participation in university entrance evaluations is unrealistic, and called for more detailed criteria to be established.

The domestic dance community operates in a challenging environment characterized by a small market and minimal capital investment. Moreover, Korean traditional dance, modern dance, and ballet emphasize originality over similarity. Consequently, while high levels of professionalism are required, the pool of qualified professionals available for evaluation is extremely limited.

Concerns were also raised that if the scope of exclusion is expanded too broadly, the pool of external evaluator candidates could shrink, evaluations might repeatedly concentrate on a small number of experts, and non-professionals might participate in evaluations, thereby undermining both the diversity and professionalism of the evaluator composition.

There are worries that absurd situations could arise—such as members of a Yeouido-dong early morning soccer association in Mapo-gu acting as referees for English Premier League matches featuring Son Heung-min.

Participants at the seminar reached consensus on the need for institutional improvements to strengthen fairness and transparency in the evaluation process, including: distinguishing between continuous guidance relationships (such as direct instruction and private lessons) and one-time formal evaluations; conducting prior verification of substantial conflicts of interest between applicants and evaluators; expanding the pool of external evaluators by major specialization; and implementing random assignment of evaluators, multiple evaluations, prior declaration of conflicts of interest, and preservation of evaluation records.

Dance community official A, speaking to this newspaper via telephone, stated, "Everyone agreed on the principle that evaluators with substantial conflicts of interest with applicants must be strictly excluded," adding, "Rather than vaguely dismissing concerns as if they were just kneaded dough, it is necessary to establish clear criteria."

Dance community official B also said, "I fully support the direction of strengthening fairness. At the same time, more precise guidelines should be established accordingly to avoid confusion."

Meanwhile, it is reported that the dance community plans to conduct in-depth research and further discussions on this issue in the future.

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*This content was translated by AI.