An inspection by the state audit agency has found that the number of teachers who colluded with private education companies in creating questions for the College Scholastic Ability Test(CSAT) in return for profit is far larger than initially estimated.

The Board of Audit and Inspection(BAI) on Monday requested police to probe 56 individuals, including 27 teachers and 23 officials of private education institutions who are under suspicion of violating the anti-graft law, obstruction of work and breach of trust. 

The audit agency said that it made the request following its three-month inspection into the so-called “cartel” between public and private education institutions. 

One of the teachers set to face police investigation was found to be a teacher who had taken part numerous times in reviewing questions for CSAT and mock exams. The BAI found that this individual had formed an eight-member group to create questions and sold them to private instructors for 660 million won in return. That’s around 504-thousand U.S. dollars.

The number of individuals suspected of engaging in such wrongdoing is up 32 compared to last September when the education ministry filed a lawsuit against four teachers who participated in the creation of CSAT questions and kept secret that they had written questions for private education institutions. 

The ministry had also requested police to look into 22 others who allegedly, after taking part in making the exam questions, sold the questions to private institutions and received large amounts of money. Two of the teachers overlap with the first group of people who were slapped with lawsuits.