Teachers' groups are pushing back against government guidelines for catching test-takers wearing smart glasses during the 2027 College Scholastic Ability Test, South Korea's national college entrance exam. The groups argue it is excessive to ask exam proctors, who lack specialized detection equipment, to identify the devices and handle the resulting confrontations.
A Ministry of Education document titled "Scenarios for Handling Key Situations in the 2027 CSAT," recently distributed to schools, includes instructions for proctors who spot a test-taker suspected of wearing smart glasses equipped with artificial intelligence features, according to education officials on the 20th.
Under the guidelines, a proctor who suspects a test-taker of wearing smart glasses must ask the student to remove them and place them on the desk, and must inform the student that refusing the request will be treated as cheating.
Proctors must also check and verify the glasses against the main characteristics of smart glasses, referring to instructional videos and booklets distributed in advance. If a determination is difficult, they are told to consult with other proctors or the exam management office.
Even when a proctor suspects a test-taker is wearing smart glasses, the check must be carried out after that period of the exam has ended.
The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union issued a commentary that day criticizing the ministry guidelines. "Assigning frontline proctors the tasks of identification, verification and managing conflicts with test-takers, without sufficient specialized equipment or clear criteria for identifying smart glasses, shifts an excessive burden onto them," the union said.
"The state must take responsibility for developing measures to prevent cheating that involves new technology, and that responsibility must not be passed on to the judgment of individual proctors," it added.
The Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations also said in a press release that day that "it is unreasonable to leave cheating involving advanced electronic devices to the judgment of individual proctors."
"Education authorities must establish clear verification criteria and response procedures, and must also put in place measures to protect proctors from complaints that may arise during the verification process," the federation said.
The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation said that wearing smart glasses during the exam voids that year's test results and suspends the student's eligibility to sit the exam for the following year.