Thai Education Ministry admits A-Net test too difficult

[webfact]

Education Ministry admits A-Net test too difficult



BANGKOK: -- The Ministry of Education has admitted that the A-Net (Advanced National Educational) test on nine subjects for Mathayom 6 students is too difficult for the students.

Deputy Education Minister Thirakiart Charoensetthasilp said on Wednesday that the test results which show most of the students scored poorly – between 20-30 out of 100 – on eight out of nine subjects could not be used as a measurement of the quality of education of Thai students. The students scored over 50 out of 100 on Thai language subject, he added.

The deputy education minister said he didn’t want to make any excuse but he stressed that the poor test results showed there is a need for the entire educational system to be overhauled starting from the standard of the curricula, teaching management and performance assessment.

He pointed out that several quizzes were unclear or ambiguous making it difficult for the students to answer correctly.

He said that the quizzes of the nine subjects were used in university’s direct entrance examinations and, therefore, they are more difficult than O-Net (Ordinary National Educational) test.

In the future, he said that the National Institute of Educational Testing Service which organized the A-Net test in February should design appropriate quizzes which are not too difficult and not too easy.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/150431


-- Thai PBS 2016-02-11

[honoluludave]

What kind of results do you expect to get when you have a no-fail school system? Now was the test too difficult for the students or were the students not smart enough for the test? If I read the article right, this was an advance placement test.

[Colabamumbai]

As a teacher in Thailand for 5 years and still involved in education, there is a lot I could say.

[klauskunkel]

they are more difficult than O-Net (Ordinary National Educational) test.

In the future, he said that the National Institute of Educational Testing Service which organized the A-Net test in February should design appropriate quizzes which are not too difficult and not too easy.

good idea, and you could call it NSA-Net (Not So Advanced National Educational) test

[bark]

As a teacher in Thailand for 5 years and still involved in education, there is a lot I could say.

AS a Thai teacher, you should be ashamed of yourself.

If you want to say that you are a poor teacher, who doesn't care about your students; and you are a sheep, who just follows the bad teachering programs ? Then I have said it for you.

[whaleboneman]

From the examples I saw yesterday, I would say that poor results are to be expected.

[nikmar]

Poor education leading to poor exam marks in a poorly organised exam leads to students who cant tell the difference between a loan and a grant.

[jonclark]

"He pointed out that several quizzes were unclear or ambiguous ...."

What does he expect - yesterdays students are today's teachers.

[DavisH]

Wow scoring between 20 - 30% on a multiple choice test. Work it out. The majority of students have learned nothing by the time they exit high school. The no-fail policy can be blamed in part. The tests are hard for a reason - to create demand for tutorial schools and help push only the wealthy into prime university positions. There is virtually no equitability in education in this country. If you poor, you are most likely to stay poor. Then, there is over 100 private universities who will take anyone who can pay - they all 'passed' school after all. Suffice to ay I have seen a decrease in performance and attitude over the last 15 years teaching here.

[Rhys]

Often wondered who did those test makers know to get into that position.

[Srikcir]

The students scored over 50 out of 100 on Thai language subject

Might as well to just teach the english language using native english speaking teachers. But the students might lose their Thainess.

[TEFLKrabi]

As a teacher in Thailand for 5 years and still involved in education, there is a lot I could say.

AS a Thai teacher, you should be ashamed of yourself.

If you want to say that you are a poor teacher, who doesn't care about your students; and you are a sheep, who just follows the bad teachering programs ? Then I have said it for you.

I assume you've never been involved in Education here. As an expat, as soon as you try to do anything different and help the kids, you're looking for a new job. Sorry, but in most cases, that's the reality.

[Borzandy]

The Ministry of Education has admitted that the A-Net test is too difficult for the students. Only, because he has tried and he failed.

[HappyinNE]

The students scored over 50 out of 100 on Thai language subject

Might as well to just teach the english language using native english speaking teachers. But the students might lose their Thainess.

Wow! Great to get over 50 out of 100. I would not be saying it was OK unless it was at least over 80. Problem at the top with expectations? They need to grade the students appropriately and not just pass them on. If you are a less than 50 student how do you possibly pass to the next grade?

[onni4me]

As a teacher in Thailand for 5 years and still involved in education, there is a lot I could say.

AS a Thai teacher, you should be ashamed of yourself.

If you want to say that you are a poor teacher, who doesn't care about your students; and you are a sheep, who just follows the bad teachering programs ? Then I have said it for you.

LOL...anyone ever teaching in Thai schools or institutions quickly learn not to question or try to change the status quo. If one tries, one finds himself without a job quicker than one says: This is Thailand!

Best way to deal with the nonsense is to teach the students as good as one can. There is no other way. Trying to interfere with the system is guaranteed way to get big problems.

I have been teaching at some point as a volunteer. They asked me to become permanent teacher which I refused. I have been working in a Thai consulting agency, half government and half private and my experiences are that the problems and ridiculous practices go through the whole society. When working in well-paid job add the backstabbing...and making problems look like the Farang did it.

If you haven't tried, why don't you give it a go? Holier-than-thou...

[lavender19]

Probably too difficult for a 3 year old in the western world .Any age above that would have passed.

[masuk]

The Ministry of Education has admitted that the A-Net test is too difficult for the students. Only, because he has tried and he failed.

I would have thought that the test was drawn up by professional educators. In which case they should have been in line with the subjects taught.

I've been surprised at the lack of knowledge by the Thais I've spoken to in regard to location of neighbouring countries and even worse for many 'Western' countries.

[HappyinNE]

The Ministry of Education has admitted that the A-Net test is too difficult for the students. Only, because he has tried and he failed.

I would have thought that the test was drawn up by professional educators. In which case they should have been in line with the subjects taught.

I've been surprised at the lack of knowledge by the Thais I've spoken to in regard to location of neighbouring countries and even worse for many 'Western' countries.

Try asking about Thai History. As bad as asking which countries border Thailand.

[casualbiker]

Probably too difficult for a 3 year old in the western world .Any age above that would have passed.

not so sure! Have YOU ever taken a Thai test? Unfortunately I have and there is literally no sense to the majority of them.

[Transporter]

What kind of results do you expect to get when you have a no-fail school system? Now was the test too difficult for the students or were the students not smart enough for the test? If I read the article right, this was an advance placement test.

Can the teachers take the test and also another test to see if they can pass on that knowledge to the students?

[Transporter]

As a teacher in Thailand for 5 years and still involved in education, there is a lot I could say.

AS a Thai teacher, you should be ashamed of yourself.

If you want to say that you are a poor teacher, who doesn't care about your students; and you are a sheep, who just follows the bad teachering programs ? Then I have said it for you.

LOL...anyone ever teaching in Thai schools or institutions quickly learn not to question or try to change the status quo. If one tries, one finds himself without a job quicker than one says: This is Thailand!

Best way to deal with the nonsense is to teach the students as good as one can. There is no other way. Trying to interfere with the system is guaranteed way to get big problems.

I have been teaching at some point as a volunteer. They asked me to become permanent teacher which I refused. I have been working in a Thai consulting agency, half government and half private and my experiences are that the problems and ridiculous practices go through the whole society. When working in well-paid job add the backstabbing...and making problems look like the Farang did it.

If you haven't tried, why don't you give it a go? Holier-than-thou...

My father In Law just became a monk for 10 days and I had to drive the pick up very very slowly (half an hour to do 1 KM) to the temple with family all on chairs in the back and a long procession of Thai family walking behind. Uncle walked slowly in front to set the pace but they still blamed me for driving too fast. Always blame the Farang! Regardless of how stupid they are.

[aRobotnamedWAR]

As a teacher in Thailand for 5 years and still involved in education, there is a lot I could say.

AS a Thai teacher, you should be ashamed of yourself.

If you want to say that you are a poor teacher, who doesn't care about your students; and you are a sheep, who just follows the bad teachering programs ? Then I have said it for you.

DO you look down on everyone or just the ones in your reach? Your mentality is whats wrong with thailand. I will never send my kids to your school.

You have 3 grammatical errors. I would point it out for you so you would improve but you are a thai teacher, at the top of your food chain, and it would be insulting for you to take my advice and lose face.

Ask yourself, did the thai people make the thai language? Do you REALLY know why historically thailand is known as the Land of smiles? its very gruesome. Ever wonder why the words: CHEAP and CORRECT in thai are exactly the same word? there are over 30 trigger phrases/words in thai that suppress the mentality of the population, as if, a master race invented thai. have i mentioned that thai is ALL SIMPLE TENSE. LIKE TALKING TO A TODDLER.

So, yes, thailand is failing at life. tHailand is failing the children. THais are failing thailand. so, thai teacher... keep doing your job poorly, cause Myammar, VIetnam, Laos, are producing much smarter students.

(example, hired construction workers, 40% of the Burmese construction workers spoke better english than 99% of office thais. why? because they are not afraid of losing face. )

Basic knowledge, common sense and street smarts....they have very little to do with saving face.

[Dap]

As a teacher in Thailand for 5 years and still involved in education, there is a lot I could say.

How very enlightening

[lostinisaan]

As a teacher in Thailand for 5 years and still involved in education, there is a lot I could say.

AS a Thai teacher, you should be ashamed of yourself.

If you want to say that you are a poor teacher, who doesn't care about your students; and you are a sheep, who just follows the bad teachering programs ? Then I have said it for you.

You can bark. Glad that we've got a Siberian Husky.

[Colabamumbai]

As a teacher in Thailand for 5 years and still involved in education, there is a lot I could say.

AS a Thai teacher, you should be ashamed of yourself.

If you want to say that you are a poor teacher, who doesn't care about your students; and you are a sheep, who just follows the bad teachering programs ? Then I have said it for you.

I am not Thai nor Indian do not judge a person by their photo, you should be deleted. Where did you learn English?

[otherstuff1957]

The Ministry of Education has admitted that the A-Net test is too difficult for the students. Only, because he has tried and he failed.

I would have thought that the test was drawn up by professional educators. In which case they should have been in line with the subjects taught.

I've been surprised at the lack of knowledge by the Thais I've spoken to in regard to location of neighbouring countries and even worse for many 'Western' countries.

I've seen examples of these tests, and I suspect that they are written by arrogant Thai professors who have spend years studying Pedagogic Theory, but have never actually stood in front of a class and tried to teach. The questions are often ambiguous, subjective and poorly written. There is often more than one correct answer, or no correct answer at all.

Ex-students of mine have told me that the Thai sections of the exam are no better than the English sections.

I recently had the 'privilege' of attending a seminar taught by a Thai professor who was a curriculum adviser for the Thai MOE. She was arrogant, stubborn and responded to any questions with hostility. After subjecting us to hours of boring lectures and jumping down the throat of anyone who dared ask a question (for example, when asked why so much apparently pointless duplicate paperwork was necessary, she practically shouted "You should do it because good teachers do it this way!"), she concluded with a few remarks about how we needed to shift from teacher-centered learning to student-centered learning. I was waiting for her to continue by pointing out how awful the previous 4 or 5 hours of teacher-centered learning that she had just finished was, but she was apparently blind to the irony of the situation.

This is the mentality of the people who run the MOE and design the tests that the students take. Yes, the students are often ignorant and the no-fail policy is a huge problem, but the MOE needs to be cleaned out from top to bottom as well.

[Rhys]

These are the over 60 who should leave..

[Kru Baa]

Just give them the answers before the test like they do with o-net Maybe blame some foreign teachers as well after telling them that they are not allowed to fail any students

[Mystery]

As a parent of a kid in school and auntie to a nephew in the army one of the first problems is the tests are so terribly written even if you were educated to degree level you would fail! They need to employ educated people to write these tests, teach the subjects properly and then the kids can pass or fail according to whether they paid attention in class. The tests are impossible one question for example might be: What is the capital of Thailand a) Ayutthya, Koh Samui c) Istanbul obviously none of the answers are correct and so impossible to answer correctly! The army English tests I saw were even worse!!!! The problem is RIGHT AT THE TOP with the people who write the curriculum and tests thereof, once they do their work properly and stop copying and pasting and thinking that'll do without checking their own work, the goodness will filter down in time! You need a few perfectionists in their offices, willing to spend the time and money to make sure all text books and tests are correct!

If you wanna have a go at foreign teachers here, they do the best they can in this system and yes get kicked out if they stir the pot too much. Thai teachers... Some good ones, really care for the kids, learning new techniques and trying to employ them in an old antiquicated system some horrific ones, definitely rarely stir the pot as that'll risk them their jobs too... STUCK!!!

I try my best to talk to my son a lot about school, what he's learning, how the teachers are with him, supplement his learning, open his mind more, soon you won't have to worry about being caned for having one hair out of place don't worry son! And no, I'm not kidding!!

As a teacher in Thailand for 5 years and still involved in education, there is a lot I could say.

[bangon04]

"the test results which show most of the students scored poorly – between 20-30 out of 100 – on eight out of nine subjects could not be used as a measurement of the quality of education of Thai"

if they design a multiple choice question paper, with 4 possible answers, then surely ticking a random box on each question ought to average 25 per cent success minimum???