NIETS clears up over 3,000 complaints
The National Institute of Educational Testing Service (NIETS) claims to have resolved 3,019 of the 4,510 complaints received regarding O-Net and A-Net (Ordinary and Advanced National Educational Tests) scores in the past three days.
Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang yesterday said there were 1,491 cases unresolved, mostly involving provincial students because the data moved at a slower rate outside the capital. Only 88 complaints filed to Chulalongkorn University were outstanding in Bangkok, he said. The number of students visiting the admission centres at Chulalongkorn and Kasetsart universities yesterday to inspect their test results has fallen compared with previous days. The scores are the main university admission criteria this year but the results announcement has been set back several times, leaving thousands of students frantically trying to verify their results. At Kasetsart Uni-versity a parent said she did not want the system used next year. She predicted the score fiasco would mean many first-year students, who had found themselves in inferior institutions, would apply again next year. This would cause a scramble for places between existing students and school leavers, she said. Bangkok University rector Thanu Kullachon said most private universities, like his, had extended their admission deadlines to remove time constraints on students hoping for admission to state universities. Thanu urged students to wait for the exam results before they applied to a private institution. If they apply to a private university and drop out, they could lose their student funding for state institutions, he said. He urged students to investigate private universities' refunds policy before rejecting the state route. In Khon Kaen, Bundit Thinkhamrob, who oversaw the development of the marking software, said all the students' papers and the model answers should be made available online to restore faith in the admission system. Meanwhile, students in Songkhla threatened to stage a demonstration in front of Education Ministry in Bangkok if the scores announced on Saturday were incorrect again. Hat Yai Wittayalai school student Jirayuth Ruamsuk, of a group called "Guinea Pig Generation", said they wanted the third review to be carried out without error. If it failed, he said, leaflets would be produced attacking the NIETS and a demonstration staged at the ministry.
|
