Number Of Direct University Admission Exams To Be Limited

[webfact]

Number of direct admission exams to be limited

By Wannapa Khaopa,

Chuleeporn Aramnet,

Darapan Kaewmukda

The Nation

A limit will be placed on students' opportunities to sit examinations for direct university admissions.

The measure was initiated after directors of secondary schools complained that their Matthayom 6 students (12th-graders) did not pay attention to lessons, as they left classes to sit tests for the direct admissions at many universities in different parts of the country, Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat said yesterday.

He said he would probably allow them to sit exams for direct admissions at a maximum of three universities. There is no limit currently.

Chinnaworn said those who passed and were recruited through direct admissions would not be allowed to compete in the central university admission exams.

The measure is aimed not only at the problem of students leaving their classes but at reducing the financial burden on their parents, who have to pay fees for the direct-admission examinations, he said.

Prasart Suebka, chairman of the Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT), said it would ask its 27 member universities to set up a system to limit the number of institutions where students can take direct-admission tests according to the minister's demand. "We have to consider carefully whether the measure limits students' rights."

However, the measure should not include Rajabhat and Rajamangala universities because it would reduce educational opportunities of students who did qualify for direct admission to any of CUPT's member universities, he argued.

"Counting the Grade Point Average Mix [GPAX] as part of the central admission is our attempt to encourage Matthayom 6 students to pay attention to their lessons," Prasart said. "Pushing the General Aptitude Test [GAT] and Professional Aptitude Test [PAT] to be counted in the direct admissions is also our attempt to reduce parents' financial burden.

"CUPT is trying to adjust the central admissions system to be able to select the right students for each field so universities will trust it and select more students via this system, which would help address problems related to the direct admissions," he said.

Chulalongkorn University (CU) president Pirom Kamolratanakul said it would count scores of the Ordinary National Educational Test (O-Net), GAT and PAT to ease financial burdens of parents and students except for some fields, such as science.

He said CU's Faculty of Arts would partially select students through the central admissions for the 2011 academic year after its student recruitment did not meet its 100-per-cent quota through direct admissions in the previous academic year as targeted.

"Expenses for CU's direct admissions are not different from other universities," Pirom said.

Some universities cooperate with one another to offer more convenient ways for students to sit tests. For example, a university may organise its own examinations and also hold exams for a partner university in a different region.

Wanida, a Matthayom 6 student, said she did not agree with the measure, as it limited students' rights and reduced their educational opportunities.

She said the Matthayom 6 curriculum was not so difficult that taking time off to sit tests at several universities would have a major effect on the students.

-- The Nation 2011-01-12