BOGUS GRADES
Educator fears schools inflated students scores
Study finds marks given to many pupils do not match their O-Net test results
More than one in every four secondary schools may have inflated grade point averages (GPA) in a bid to boost students' chances of getting into prestigious universities, a top educator hinted yesterday.Wichien Ketsing, acting director of the National Institute of Educational Testing Services (NIETS), made the claim based on O-Net (Ordinary National Educational Test) scores as indicators of academic performance. "I won't make any conclusions from what we have found out. We will just disclose the information to the public, which should be able to interpret the findings," said Wichien. According to NIETS, students from more than 3,000 schools sat the O-Net earlier this year. NIETS studied the correlation between O-Net scores and GPAs at 2,839 schools. Schools with fewer than 10 students taking the O-Net were ignored. Of the 2,839 schools, more than 830 reported student GPAs that were unusually high when compared with O-Net scores. "There are 136 schools where students scored high GPAs but had low O-Net scores," Wichien said. He added that 378 other schools saw students with high GPAs but only fair O-Net scores. In 321 cases, schools recorded medium GPAs but low O-Net scores. He said statistics revealed senior-secondary student GPAs had been climbing over the past several years. Wichien said there were also some schools where students had low GPAs but had scored high in the O-Net. Education Ministry Permanent Secretary Khunying Kasama Varavarn na Ayutthaya said yesterday she would request the names of the schools involved. "When we know which schools have an unusual correlation between student GPAs and O-Net scores, we will go to those schools and find out what has happened," she said. This year marked the first time that GPAs accounted for 30 per cent of final grades. Last year, GPAs accounted for 10 per cent only. Grades are a vital ingredient in securing a seat at a top university. The five top-scoring schools in the O-Net, Wichien revealed yesterday, were: Mahidol Wittayanusorn School at an average score 376.91; Triam Udom Suksa School (355.53); Rajabhat Institute Nakhon Pathom demonstration school (322.66); Rajabhat Institute Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (313.28); and Mater Dei College (308.29). The ranking was compiled using average O-Net scores at each school. The highest score possible in the O-Net is 500.00.
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