Thai Institute cans controversial U-Net test

[webfact]

EDUCATION
Institute cans controversial U-Net test
Chuleeporn Aramnet
The Nation

No agency willing to use exam after public criticism

BANGKOK: -- The National Institute of Educational Testing Service (NIETS) board yesterday cancelled a pilot English language test under the University National Education Test (U-Net) for this year and indefinitely postponed all U-Net subjects for next year, on grounds that there are no users of U-Net scores.

However, the agency will continue to study and gather opinions for development of a higher education test, possibly as an exam in the same manner as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) but this would be not be obligatory.

NIETS director Samphan Phanphruk told a press conference that U-net was proposed for the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (Onesqa) and the Office of Higher Education Commission (Ohec). Onesqa had slated using U-Net for its fourth round of external quality assessment of education institutions next October, while Ohec had proposed using it for colleges' internal quality assessment.

But since Onesqa and Ohec later said they would not use the U-Net scores, there was no need for NIETS to organise it, he said.

As it was NIETS' mission to organise higher education tests, the agency would continue to study and develop a standard non-obligatory test - possibly in the same manner as TOEFL or TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication).

NIETS would next time listen to all sides' opinions, especially test users and stakeholders, he said. the agency had no authority to tie educational institutions to using its exams and thus developed tests for users to consideration. He said the agency believed if they developed good standard and good quality tests, people would use them.

After NIETS floated the idea of U-Net, the graduation exam drew opposition from student networks at 27 universities and people on social network, who said it could put more burden on students.

Asked if students' movements against U-Net contributed to the cancellation, Niets board chairman Somwang Pitiyanuwat said many people had misunderstood the reason behind the test so NIETS had to review the plan. In the future, when the agency creates a test and faces misunderstanding and objections, it will consider the reasons - not just opposition - before cancelling such tests, he said.

Ohec secretary-general Tossaporn Sirisampan said Ohec's internal assessment would use Thailand Qualifications Framework (TQF) for various fields and it was up to each university to decide about its own educational quality assurance system.

For example, some places might opt to have students attend graduation exams and use some information from student activities, he added.

Asked about a pilot plan to use U-Net as part of the teachers' professional knowledge tests, Tossaporn said that the teachers' professional knowledge tests were for a specific purpose, so they would be more like recruitment exams of the Office of the Civil Service Commission and thus different to U-Net.

The U-Net is a pre-graduation test designed to assess proficiency in four core areas - Thai and English for communication; the application of information and general technology in everyday life; media literacy; and analytical and problem-solving skills, plus critical thinking.


-- The Nation 2014-05-06

[NongKhaiKid]

What's the problem ?

Is the test too difficult so people might actually fail and spoil the ' nobody fails ' record ?

Nonsense, if nobody fails in Thailand ... ?

[Tatsujin]

The U-Net is a pre-graduation test designed to assess proficiency in four core areas - Thai and English for communication; the application of information and general technology in everyday life; media literacy; and analytical and problem-solving skills, plus critical thinking.

I can see why they don't want a test such as this . . . very few would pass, especially with the last core area.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Perhaps one of the education-employed members here can explain a bit more about what's going on with this proposed test and the desire to avoid it?

But based on the pretty sparse article above, you'd get the impression that Thai university students don't really want to be subjected to a standardized test of their English / communication / critical thinking and problem solving skills... Wonder why?

And as for the universities, if their "quality assurance" programs are up to each university to decide on their own (and again no standardized system), you can pretty well guess what kind of "quality assurance" you're going to get.

Everybody happily gets their degrees from NFU -- No Fail U!!!

[RamblingSam]

So, we have a range of different English language exams ... but is which English they are teaching, (US or UK) the problem? I seem to see more US followed by what seems to be US and UK language mixed up together, than just UK English being used. I'm guessing this is because of the much larger number of Americans who visit or live in Thailand. I get the impression that most countries outside the US, prefer to teach UK rather than US-English, and maybe, there is an underlying 'conflict' going on within the education system, as to which version is supposed to be taught? I'm a Brit, don't have a particular axe to grind as to which is taught or used, but I'm guessing, the fact that you have US and UK English operating in Thailand side by side may make producing and marking a 'Written' English exam, a bit of a mess, if one is preferred over the other by those marking the papers!

[DrTuner]

Tossaporn .. I just love that name. Toss a porn.

The article ? Who cares.

Edited May 6, 2014 by DrTuner

[bob6130]

It is easier to can a project than to can thousands of worthless teacher.

The teachers are given a job they are not educated for.

How many Farang English teachers actually work with their Thai counterparts in class.

Not many I think.

FACE, CAN NOT FAIL and the normal CHEAT.

ASIAN will walk all over Thailand if it does not start to get a grip.

[NongKhaiKid]

So, we have a range of different English language exams ... but is which English they are teaching, (US or UK) the problem? I seem to see more US followed by what seems to be US and UK language mixed up together, than just UK English being used. I'm guessing this is because of the much larger number of Americans who visit or live in Thailand. I get the impression that most countries outside the US, prefer to teach UK rather than US-English, and maybe, there is an underlying 'conflict' going on within the education system, as to which version is supposed to be taught? I'm a Brit, don't have a particular axe to grind as to which is taught or used, but I'm guessing, the fact that you have US and UK English operating in Thailand side by side may make producing and marking a 'Written' English exam, a bit of a mess, if one is preferred over the other by those marking the papers!

During my early teaching ' career ' in BKK I worked for a company that only did outside contracts such as hotels, high end serviced apartments etc.

Depending on the nationality of the management it was quite common for them to specify teachers of British or US English only.

Since I was working with students who had completed formal education of various levels i always checked if they had any previous exposure to a native speaker and if so which country that teacher came from.

The answers from the students were many and varied and there was lots of confusion of which type of English they had learned.

Some of course never had a foreign teachers and others, usually graduates, had been exposed to teaching of both styles.

My university experience was in a faculty consisting of Thai and native speakers from several countries. The books in use were from various sources and there was no policy on what style of English was to be taught so one semester the students could have an American teacher and for the next semester an Australian, or from Scotland or England.

Incidentally, at the end of each semester the teachers handed in their students' grades which were never seen again and we were never asked to put our name to any formally results list as it was all happening behind the scenes to make sure of a high success rate.someone from