Exam chiefs retreat on new uni test

Exam chiefs retreat on new uni test

Testing officials admit Unet is unnecessary

The controversial new national examination for graduates has been postponed after fierce opposition from students.

The National Institute of Educational Testing Service (Niets) director Samphan Phanphruk said the agency's board held a meeting yesterday to discuss plans to launch the University National Examination Tests (Unet).

The launch of the controversial examinations was initially scheduled for this academic year.

The meeting, chaired by Niets board chairman Somwang Pitiyanuwat, resolved to postpone the Unet launch after the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment and the Office of the Higher Education Commission decided it was unnecessary to use Unet to evaluate bachelor's degree graduates’ academic performance.

A source said misunderstandings about the national examination, as well as strong opposition from many students, forced the Niets board to cancel the launch this academic year.

Before the decision was announced, a group of 15 university students, led by Saran Chuichai, or "Aum Neko", a second-year liberal arts student from Thammasat University, submitted a letter to the Niets director opposing the exams.

The group criticised Niets' role in organising national tests, saying the agency often made mistakes.

The Unet exam would be a waste of taxpayer money, as it would duplicate existing evaluation tests, the group claimed.

In some fields of study, graduates were already required to undertake specific professional evaluation tests.

Aum Neko said her group would fight to the end to have the exam scrapped.

Part of the Unet exams would assess the English communication skills of graduates.

However, each university already has its own institute to assess their proficiency in English, he said.

These include Chulalongkorn University's Test for English Proficiency, widely known as CU-TEP, and Thammasat University's Graduate English Test, known as TU-GET.

''Now, groups of university students are coming out in opposition to the Unet exam launch. Many activities are being held to oppose it.

"So far, our group has gathered almost 50,000 signatures of those against the exam,'' said Aum Neko.

Last week, Niets announced it would implement Unet exams to evaluate bachelor's degree graduates’ performance for this academic year.

It intended, by the 2015 academic year, to extend the exams to cover those at master's and doctorate levels.

Unet exams comprise three key sections with which to assess graduates’ basic competencies.

These are: Thai and English communication skills, media literacy and critical thinking; moral reasoning; and specific professional skills.

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