Deja vu as students check scores today
Tomorrow ends more than a week of suspense for tens of thousands of students awaiting their O-net and A-net scores, which were released earlier but then voided because of complaints of mistakes.
This is the first year that the O-Net (Ordinary National Educational Test) and A-Net (Advanced National Educational Test) have been held and their scores are being announced online only, on the website of National Institute of Educational Testing Services (NIETS). This is also the first year the results will be used as admission criteria for higher education. On April 2, the NIETS voided the scores it announced a day earlier after hundreds of students complained that they were given the virtually impossible zero mark. "Since April 2, I have visited the NIETS website to check if there's any update but there's nothing," Natthawit Thaveethanakij, a student from Samut Prakan, said yesterday. Despite his quite high scores being announced early this month, he said he spent restless days and nights throughout the past week because he was not sure whether the scores he caught a glimpse of on April 1 were really his. "I believe those scores are mine but until things are definite, I can't be too assured," he said. Natthawit said NIETS should tell students at what time the scores would be posted on its website. "I am anxious to see my scores. I am wondering whether the scores will show up the first minute of April 11 or much later in the day," Natthawit said. He said most of his friends were feeling the same way and had simply lost interest in the upcoming Songkran Festival. The scores released on April 1 were accessible in the evening and only for a very short time. The servers apparently could not cope with the high number of visitors to the web page with the scores. NIETS has cited some students' failure to clearly mark their identification-card numbers on the answer sheets as the main reason why their scores did not show. Thanawat Chua-chang, a student from a famous school in Ubon Ratchathani, said the new testing system should not have been launched if it was not fully ready. "I am increasingly worried. What if I lose my chance to get into a good university just because there's something wrong in the system?" he said. Meanwhile, Chulalongkorn University (CU) and Thammasat University (TU) yesterday expressed confidence in NIETS, saying they believed the result announcement tomorrow would go smoothly. "From what NIETS has told us, the problems on April 1 do not stem from serious causes. So, we believe things should go fine now," CU vice president Dr Kua Wongboonsin said. He said CU faculties had already extended the deadline for submitting applications in response to the delayed announcement of O-net and A-net scores. TU vice rector Dr Taweep Chaisompop said his university already postponed the application deadlines, and dates for interviews, check-ups and registration. "Still, the upcoming semester will start as scheduled," he said.
Urisara Kowitdamrong The Nation
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