Mathayom 6 students fare poorly in O-Net

[sirchai]

My M6 students take the O-Net this weekend and while I agree with most of the comments above there is another difficulty my students face which is that my rural school uses the World Club series textbooks for M4, M5 and M6. For my M6 students there is a huge leap to make between the topics covered in the textbook and the questions asked in the O-Net. I have given my students a lot of practice with recent O-Net papers but some of the words used, in the passages and the questions where grammar mistakes have to be spotted and replaced, are quite advanced. It makes me wonder what kind of student the examiners have in mind when setting the test because there is a world of difference between an urban and rural student.

Talisman

I tried to "take" a M.3 O-net test, but it was impossible. Got the one for M.3 from last year and was asking our Thai head English teachers a few questions. She had not even one right.

My point being is if their teachers can't pass such a test, (all explained in Thai), how should the students "know" the right answers?/

Honestly speaking, the M.3 test from last year was pretty difficult for guys who know not much about the English language.Serious grammar questions, all with similar answers and only little differences in tenses.

I personally don't think that you can check students' ability in any subjects through such weird tests.-

[Jonmarleesco]

'... students' latest average scores in the Ordinary National Educational Test ... lower than 50 per cent in six out of seven general education |subjects ...' It seems they were lower than 40%

'... The O-Net scores are very important to Mathayom 6 students because they are used as university-admission criteria ...' Seems the students haven't been told. But doubtless there are other ways of qualifying, even for the most inept.

[Jonmarleesco]

My M6 students take the O-Net this weekend and while I agree with most of the comments above there is another difficulty my students face which is that my rural school uses the World Club series textbooks for M4, M5 and M6. For my M6 students there is a huge leap to make between the topics covered in the textbook and the questions asked in the O-Net. I have given my students a lot of practice with recent O-Net papers but some of the words used, in the passages and the questions where grammar mistakes have to be spotted and replaced, are quite advanced. It makes me wonder what kind of student the examiners have in mind when setting the test because there is a world of difference between an urban and rural student.

Talisman

I tried to "take" a M.3 O-net test, but it was impossible. Got the one for M.3 from last year and was asking our Thai head English teachers a few questions. She had not even one right.

My point being is if their teachers can't pass such a test, (all explained in Thai), how should the students "know" the right answers?/

Honestly speaking, the M.3 test from last year was pretty difficult for guys who know not much about the English language.Serious grammar questions, all with similar answers and only little differences in tenses.

I personally don't think that you can check students' ability in any subjects through such weird tests.-

That seems to say all there is to say...

[Tacho De Lao]

Assoc Prof Samphan Phanphruk, who heads the National Institute of Educational Testing Service (NIETS), yesterday said some students scored zero on the English, mathematics and physics test

​I've tried to get a copy for the P.6 tests from last Saturday,. but no way. Got the O-net from last year for M.3 and I'm certain that most Thai English teacher would fail these questions as well.

A kid at our school had 98 out of possible 100 in her pre O-net. The two questions where she was "wrong", was the test itself, made in Thailand by Thais. I would have taken the same answers, as the girl was correct.

They should let the Thai English teachers make the test first and then compare the results with the students' results. That would be breathtaking.-

I went through the english part of the onet with my son last year and my daughter this year. Many of the questions have no correct answer so I told them to try and pick the one that is closest to the correct answer. Some of the answers were so close that picking the one that is closest to being correct is a toss up.

They really need a native english speaker to revamp these tests.

Great idea. You know how well Thais like asking for help from Westerners. I mean that would "make sense" And rarely does the thing that makes sense get done here sadly, especially when it comes to education. The test is quite the joke. The problem is what we think is closest to the right answer must go against what a Thai thinks is the right answer. A complete toss up. Last year there was a question about what you should do when you felt "an urge" about the opposite sex. As best we could tell the answer was either B go play sports or E talk to a monk about it. No wonder people here get angry so easy. I"ve just stopped worrying about it and telling my M6 students, hurry and grow up so some of you smarter ones can be part of the MOE and stop this nonsense. It will take another 15 years or so before all the "older" generation is out and maybe some sensible decisions start being made there. KIds having to take subjects in school like Chemistry and Physics that they have NO interest in does not help at all either. Oh sorry, I was using logic. Forget I said that.

[Phatcharanan]

One of the previous tests had the question

'why do farangs like masaman curry?" What kind of question is that for a p6 thai kid?

I'm considered a "farlang" here, but don't even know what masaman curry is. Nor have I ever heard of it. Living here for 12 years and teaching for nine years.

Another easy one:\

Lek's ten years old. Noi is two years older than Jack. How old is Noi?

a) 12 years old 8 years old. c) 13 years old. d) 15 years old.

Not that easy that one demonstrates the ability to use mathematical reasoning for a multi step problem. Kids less than about 12 find that almost impossible as they have not the physical ability to handle that.

Not that easy?

It can't even be answered as the information is incomplete.

Upper Primary kids should be able to handle multi-step (stage) questions.

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been deleted. Please stay on the topic.

[kunnatee]

there is a world of difference between an urban and rural student.

Urban students are just as weak.

The tests are way too hard for them too.

I think the people who prepare these tests may have never entered a Thai high school to see if there was a difference between the syllabus and what the students actually knew.

But what is driving me crazy is to try to understand how it is possible for the students to learn so little.

Even for a kid who is not interested, just by sitting in the class for 10 years, you should pick up a few things... no.

It is common for M6 students not to remember basic words like "he".

Also, and that's more obviously the teachers' fault, what is the point of learning an English that you can only practice with Thais because they are the only ones who pronounce it the way you do. i.e. without actual English sounds (z-v-sh-ch-g-a- etc.or "milk" proudly pronounced "miu")

There are students who have sat in my class for three years and to whom I know for a fact that I've explained some (very basic) things over 50 times, and who still look like it's the first time they hear it when I ask them about it at the end of M6.

I've been teaching for 7 years, I have a great relation with my students, and I'm quite confident that my method is not the worst. I do "language exchange" with a few Japanese and Chinese, and they understand and remember quite easily when I explain something.

But I am still surprised every day by the capacity to "not learn" of my students.

If someone has a theory, It would help me sleep at night...

[BruceMangosteen]

I do "language exchange" with a few Japanese and Chinese, and they understand and remember quite easily when I explain something.

But I am still surprised every day by the capacity to "not learn" of my students.

If someone has a theory, It would help me sleep at night...

The Japanese and Chinese want to learn and are listening to what you say/explain. This is true even if they don't like you. The Thai student must be convinced that what you have to say/explain is important to their daily lives, especially if it helps on facebook. You might try a facebook chat format with a stranger.

AS to the subject, several of my M.3 and M.6 students said the English portion of the ONET exam was "easy" and normal. I'm surprised to read these results. Perhaps it is like the old SAT where an incorrect answer counted as more than one wrong vs "one" for a correct answer? That's the only way you could get a multiple choice exam down to a score of "zero".

[olddoc]

"Education" needs to be valued within the students home.

If the parents show little interest beyond demanding their child gains a "pass" what can be expected ?

[culicine]

Since I'm not in the education field I won't get into a rant on these scores. Could somebody advise what the score actually means? While a 'pass' is 50% I guess, what is an acceptable score for university admission to a mid level institution? Thanks.

It depends of the course, but I saw some minimums of about 30% for uni entrance. Pretty pathetic given that random guessing will give 25%. It still shows that either the exams are too difficult/nor reliable or the majority of students have learned very little at school. The results are quite disturbing.

[Dave 74]

Why do they need to study for silly tests when they are THAI.

Automatically brilliant at everything and anything, and vastly superior beings all round.