The Education Ministry has urged the National Institute of Educational Testing Service (Niets) to restructure exam questions designed for use in the Ordinary National Educational Test (O-Net) after some O-Net questions again sparked controversy.
Many students who took the exam have voiced their frustrations on social media and web boards saying some of the O-Net questions on this year's test sounded "stupid", with none of the multiple-choice answers given seeming to be correct.
About 10 unanswerable questions have been shared online. One of the multiple-choice questions asks, "Following in Thai tradition, how should boyfriends or girlfriends express their love to each other?" The available alternatives are: a) Put one's arm around the other's shoulder while shopping; b) Ask their boyfriends or girlfriends out for dinner and a movie; c) Sleep on a girl's lap in public; d) Go to the sea and spend the night together; or e) Feed each other in a restaurant.
Critics say that every choice could be taken as correct because the definition of "Thai tradition" between teenagers and adults might be different, so there is no given choice that appears to be the best answer.
Speaking Wednesday as the ministry and Niets called in the media to discuss the saga, Deputy Education Minister Theerakiat Jareonsettasin said that nine out of 10 questions shared on social media were questions from previous years' tests and only one was a question from this year's exam.
He said the public has confused test results in nine core subjects, organised by Niets, with the O-Net exam which is a different test.
Since people confused the two types of tests they quickly concluded that "ridiculous questions" in the O-Net exam are to blame for why Thai students perform so poorly in the nine core subjects.
On Monday, Niets revealed the results of the 2016 national tests in nine core subjects for Mathayom 6 (Grade 12) students which showed they failed most of the subjects.
Of nine core subjects, each comprising a total of 100 marks, Thai language had the highest average score at 56.65, while the mean results for the other eight subjects -- Social Science, English, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2 and General Sciences -- were less than 50.
The last two subjects were introduced in the tests for the first time this year.
A total of 179,968 students participated in the tests. The scores of the nine core exam subjects are used by students to apply to universities through a clearing-house system.
The objective of the O-Net exam is to test the knowledge and thinking ability of Grade 6, 9 and 12 students according to the Basic Education Core Curriculum BE 2551. Every Thai student needs to pass the O-Net exam.
Mr Theerakiat said he has suggested to Niets director Samphan Phranphruek that he revamp next year's exams for the nine core subjects so the questions will not have students scratching their heads.
He also suggested Niets reform next year's O-Net exam questions to ensure there will not be any "silly questions".
"Stupid questions on the O-Net exam are a chronic problem as it's not the first time this year that this kind of question has caused a stir on social media. From now on, I don't want to see questions like this showing up again," Mr Theerakiat said.