Most parents take into account the fame of schools when choosing where to enrol their children to sit exams for entry to Mathayom 1 (Grade 7), according to Bangkok Poll.
The pollsters at Bangkok University Research Centre surveyed 1,085 people who took their children to sit Mathayom 1 exams recently in Bangkok and surrounding provinces.
The Mathayom 1 exam results were released on Wednesday, according to the Office of the Basic Education Commission.
According to the poll, 65.3% of respondents said they considered the fame of schools when deciding where their children should sit the Mathayom 1 exams, followed by travel convenience (63.7%), confidence in the teaching system (57.7%) and their children's desired schools (43.7). Respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer.
Asked how they prepared their children for the tests, 57.2% said they bought tutorial and exercise books for them to read and practice with, followed by enroling children in tutorial courses from Prathom 4 (Grade 4) - Prathom 6 (56.2%), and taking them to sit pre-tests in preparation for the exams (45.1%).
Asked what they worried most about when their children sat the exams, 59.7% said the fierce competition for places.
Pollsters reported that 13.5% were concerned their children would fail the test and not be able to get into a state-run school, and 10.7% that they might have to enrol their children in private schools, where education fees are high.
According to the poll, 74.8% of parents were supportive of exams as the schools’ method of selecting students, but 25.2% did not want them.
When asked about the education system they preferred for their children, 72.6% said equal teaching standards at all schools, and eradication of the social value of popular schools, while 59% wanted teachers to have a more modern outlook, understand the curriculum and refrain from seeing themselves as the centre of everything, and 51.7% wanted the government or school executive body to provide assistance with school fees.