Excessive Test Focus Hurts Love of Learning, Official Says

A parent prays for a child’s success in the College Scholastic Ability Test at a Buddhist temple in Seoul, South Korea, last November. More than 700,000 high school seniors and graduates sit for the high-stakes examinations at 1,100 test centers across the country.

—Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

Former education minister warns against overemphasis

By Sean Cavanagh

Seattle

A former top education official in academically high-flying South Korea has warned the United States against copying his nation’s approach, which he says has grown too test-centered and often detracts from students’ love of learning.

Byong Man Ahn, the former minister of education, science, and technology in South Korea, said officials in his country are attempting to scale back the heavy test emphasis and nurture broader student skills, a step some of the United States’ other foreign competitors also have taken.

Mr. Ahn made his remarks here during a keynote address March 25 at the annual meeting of the Association for Education Finance and Policy .