Dismal university entrance exam results |continue, as solutions evade educators

THE NATION

THE LOW scores posted by high school students in their lengthy series of university-entrance examinations has come as no surprise to educators who say fixing the problem remains elusive.

The results of the tests in nine core subjects show that the average score in each subject was less than half the 100-point total, said Assoc Prof Samphan Phanphruk, director of the National Institute of Educational Testing Service (NIETS). There were 179,968 students tested.

The scores on the nine subject exams are used to evaluate students who applied for admission at one of 27 universities nationwide. The NIETS system is just one of several ways students can get into a university.

The NIETS was assigned by the Council of University Presidents of Thailand to organise the general examinations, with universities considering applicants based on their scores through a clearing-house system. The system was not popular among students this year because there were fewer universities involved.

Among the other options to get into university is the exam to get into a student’s preferred institution. Many state-run universities offer the direct exam but most universities take students based on the national admission system.

Under the admission system, students scores are calculated from the following tests – general aptitude, professional and academic aptitude, and ordinary national educational. Each student’s grade point average is also factored in.

Widely known as the GAT/PAT, this evaluation method was introduced in 2009. It was given three times a year until 2010. In 2011, it was given only once a year. And since 2012 it has been given twice a year.

The results of the first GAT/PAT this year were released last month and showed the average score was less than half the 300-point maximum for each subject.

While some students got a full score of 100 in each of the nine subjects and a full score of 300 for each subject in the GAT/PAT, many students got zero in the tests, according to Samphan.

Students generally do well only in the Thai-language tests, with most scoring more than half on the nine-subject Thai test and GAT/PAT test. For the 100-point score for Thai, the average score was 56.6.

Prof Somphong Chitradub, from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Education, said the gloomy picture that emerged from the nine tests was not unprecedented but it showed a chronic problem in the education system and the failure to adequately address it.

NIESTS needs to analyse the results to understand what happened, he said.

Pong-in Rakariyatham, rector of Nation University, said he was not surprised by the results from the nine tests as the average score for each subject had never gone far beyond 50.

“Rather than expressing our shock every year after the exam results come out, the point is how do we improve our students’ performance in the exams,” he said.