One-Third Fail University Enrolment Test

[webfact]

EDUCATION

One-third fail university enrolment test

By The Nation

Admission interviews set for May 11-13; unsuccessful urged to keep trying

Fewer than two-thirds of university applicants in the central admission system have made it to the interview round this year.

The results were made public yesterday via several channels such as the www.cuas.or.th website and the (1900) 888 555 hotline.

Professor Prasart Suebka, speaking in his capacity as chairman of the Association of University Presidents of Thailand, said only 78,096 of the 123,260 applicants had passed the written tests.

Those who passed will be interviewed between Wednesday and Friday next week.

However, Prasart said students who had failed the admission test should not lose hope.

"There are several other options. Many state and private universities are still accepting applications," said Prasart, who is also president of the Suranaree University of Technology (SUT).

Up to 94 universities, including SUT, expect to take in new students for their 912 academic programmes via the central university admissions system this year.

So far, Thammasat University's Faculty of Political Science has received 3,032 applications, the highest number, even though there are just 50 seats up for grabs. The competition for Kasetsart University's biochemistry programme was similarly fierce, with 1,578 applications coming in for 35 seats.

Chulalongkorn University's (CU) faculty of sports sciences has attracted 1,781 applications for 60 seats.

Triam Udom Suksa student Rat Patumrat, who was this year's top scorer with 93.21 points, has opted to study political science at Chulalongkorn University.

Bulporn sae Lim from Hatyaiwittayalai School, who got the second-highest score of 89.53 points, is opting for CU's faculty of communication arts.

Chanistha Punnawat from Navamindarajudis School came in third with 87.46 points and has chosen to enrol in Kasetsart University's faculty of humanities.

Also this year, two blind students have passed the written admission test. The students are Nichakarn Kaviorayan from St Francis Xavier Convent School and Damkerng Mungthanya from St Gabriel's College. Both have chosen to study at CU's faculty of education.

-- The Nation 2011-05-05

[johncat1]

It is hardly surprising so many students fail when Thai schools adopt a " No fail policy "

Most teachers are expected to give a student at least a passing grade even if they never attend class.

This is because it looks bad for the teacher if too many students get zero grade.

If a student does get zero grade they just ask to be upgraded. This is automatic often with the student performing some menial tasks for the teachers like cleaning a classroom for a week.

Also most of the boys cannot copy the girls work during examinations because they are seated according to the class register ( all boys together )

99% of my Zero Graders are boys because they are lazy and know they will get at least a grade 1 even if they fail.

In the UK if a student fails an examination the grade cannot and will not be changed . If the student fails they have to retake the exam

[khaowong1]

In the U.S., if they fail, their held back a year and not allowed to go forward with their fellow students.

[tragickingdom]

That makes a lot of tea money.

[ccarbaugh]

In the U.S., if they fail, their held back a year and not allowed to go forward with their fellow students.

That USED TO BE the case, but now the PARENT

must give permission for the child to be

"held-back" or not.

[Scott]

Education is a progression through a system that needs to be designed to impart knowledge to different students at varying stages of development. I've been away from a Western system for awhile, but I don't think it has changed too much.

Young learners are sometimes held back (and they also are in Thailand -- with the permission of the parents I presume). Holding a young child back is sometimes done because they are simply too immature to perform certain tasks. It's difficult to learn to write if you haven't sufficiently developed the motor skills to hold a pencil correctly, for example.

Grade school level has a little bit more expectations, but it's pretty common to scoot them along if they can perform minimally. By the time they are in High School, there are the teachers who do start failing students. Best of luck at finding a school that keeps moving them along. Of course, you can fail a course and repeat it and still graduate.

Those at the bottom end are not likely to end up taking University exams.

[TerryLH]

I think the story is a bit misleading.

Everyone who take the tests get a score. That score, however low it might be, gives them a score that is added to other tests/gpa to determine their placement on lists for the different schools/faculties.

If 1000 students want to test for a faculty that will have only 60 openings, and a student gets a low score, it stands to reason they probably won't be in the top 60 and won't be studying there.

I suppose you can say they failed, even though they did get a score.

There are many other schools/faculties/programs that they may be able to get, but unless they actually chose one of them, then a private uni or a Raj might be their best option.

This isn't something new this year.

I understand that the GAT/PAT scores were better overall this year. I assume that was partially because of improvements to the tests. Last year they were very bad. I guess the large number of complaints last year got some results.

[Kilgore Trout]

In the U.S., if they fail, their held back a year and not allowed to go forward with their fellow students.

That USED TO BE the case, but now the PARENT

must give permission for the child to be

"held-back" or not.

Not quite true; I held back a 1st grade student a couple of years ago; he could have passed if his family got on board with the IEP team but they refused leaving us with no option but to fail him.

Please provide some references for your claim.

[bkk_mike]

In the UK if a student fails an examination the grade cannot and will not be changed . If the student fails they have to retake the exam

That's not quite true.

If you're border-line, and did well on your prelim exams. the teacher can appeal with classwork, preliminary exam results, etc. I'm not saying a D will be changed to a C very often, but there is an appeal process in place, especially for subjects where marking can be more subjective (i.e. not so much with maths/sciences where you're either right or wrong).

[Rhys]

At a southern university, The Graduating English Majors, 80% cannot pass the Exit English Proficiency Exam

Edited May 24, 2011 by Rhys