NAKHON RATCHASIMA : Less than 2% of applicants have managed to pass an assistant teacher recruitment test, a senior education official said.
Nakhon Ratchasima primary education service area office 3 director Pisit Chodking said only 47 of 2,749 applicants passed the test, organised during June 22-24 to fill vacancies in seven subjects in state-run schools.
The subjects are general science, science, early childhood education, Thai language, music, social science and maths.
The exam was organised after the results of previous nationwide exams were cancelled following the discovery of widespread cheating.
According to Mr Pisit, 16 applicants passed the general science test, while 18 passed the early childhood education exam, four passed the Thai language exam and three each passed the music, social science and science tests.
It is the lowest pass percentage ever recorded, he said.
Mr Pisit said not one of the 130 people who applied for the maths assistant teaching job passed the recruitment exam. Mr Pisit said applicants are required to score at least 60% to pass.
According to the test results, maths teacher applicants scored between 30-35 out of 75 in the maths section and between 70-85 marks out of 150 in other areas. Because no one passed the maths test only the other six vacancies will be filled, Mr Pisit said.
Meanwhile, the Nakhon Ratchasima secondary education service area office 31 is expected to announce the results of its recruitment test today.
Cheating was reported in several provinces after a recruitment exam held in January. About 30 assistant teachers have since been dismissed as a result of a Department of Special Investigation probe. In the wake of the cheating furore, the Education Ministry also has launched a dereliction of duty probe against the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) secretary-general Chinnapat Bhumirat. Obec ran the exams.