Professor Utumporn Jamornmann spoke exclusively to The Nation ahead of commencing her term as director of the National Institute of Educational Testing Service (NIETS).

At age 63, the senior academic still works 10-hour days, seven days a week. Her goal is to reform the heavily criticised NIETS into the top testing centre in Asia within four years.

Why did you apply to be NIETS director?

I submitted my application on the last day, by mail, because people asked me why I was not interested, given that I had worked in the university admissions system before. I realised I didn't want to see the admissions system I had developed fall flat. I thought I could do something to prevent that.

Are you worried about NIETS' poor image?

Of course. This is going to be a tiring and stressful job. Children and parents have already developed a negative attitude towards NIETS. However, I'm ready for the challenge. Many former students have offered to help. Also, I'm going to work alongside those who worked with me developing the admissions system, so we're familiar with one another. Furthermore, I've already studied problems that arose in the past. Once I start my job at the NIETS, I will address those problems.

When do you start?

I'll sign the contract on October 2, and I expect to start right away. I'm not afraid of hard work. In my current job at Assumption University, I work 10 hours a day, seven days a week.

What are your plans for the job?

My plans are in three stages. In the first stage, I'll tackle the immediate tasks first, which involve organising the Ordinary National Educational Test, or O-Net. This must be held around next February. We must bring in information technology to help administer the tests. As for scoring, I'll consult officials and the University Presidents' Council of Thailand (UPCT) to conclude whether open-ended questions still have a place in the O-Net. If they do, we must realistically review whether we can score all test papers by a given deadline. If we have multiple-choice tests only, we can use computers for scoring. But I really want the O-Net to include open-ended questions.

In the second stage, I'll tackle problems within NIETS. Right now, not all NIETS positions are filled. I will stick to the principle that we need a staff level that ensures all tasks flow smoothly. This way, we can outsource some tasks.

In the third stage, I'll look into national tests for third, sixth and ninth grade students. We must coordinate with the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) to ensure that testing by NIETS and OBEC doesn't overlap. We'll improve the quality of national tests and may test in more subjects.

I want NIETS to become the best testing centre in Asia, and a gathering place for examiners. I hope it can organise tests for neighbouring countries like Burma, Vietnam and Laos.

I plan to develop a database of test questions from all previous years and from both Thai and foreign universities. I hope to see NIETS provide information on new testing techniques, how to answer test questions, different styles of tests, how to analyse test questions and new theories developed by examiners around the world.

The database should be accessible to all students via the NIETS website. For me, NIETS' duties involve much more than simply holding exams to admit students to university.

Furthermore, I plan to emphasise seminars and research support for testers. Examiners usually only know how to analyse tests. I hope NIETS can make them understand more about the academic content of tests. We have yet to provide tests for testers.

I think we can launch a website for testers to share information. Actually, there are many great testers at several universities. I hope to bring them to the website, where they can share information.

Is this a dream? Will the problems in O-Net tests drive you to a religious retreat like they did former director Prateep Chankong?

I won't flee. I'm the type who fights to the end. But as for the best testing centre in Asia, I must admit that's my dream. Dreams are necessary so we can produce work. Of course I'll attempt to make my dream come true. Many people said I should have given myself more time to realise such an ambitious dream, like seeking two terms. But I've told them I have yet to begin my first term and thus cannot talk about a second one. After all, I am growing older.

How can you reduce O-Net problems for next year? How can you restore public trust in NIETS?

I'm going to tackle the problems that happened early this year. You see, there was no efficient system for handling testing centres. Many candidates couldn't find their exam room. Supervisors allowed students in without checking their codes. These were problems that led to more problems. I plan to prevent these problems at testing centres by asking schools to submit candidate lists in advance. We'll use information technology to do some mapping. This should solve the problems.

Also, I plan to announce O-Net scores as raw scores, not T-scores [standard scores with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10; a T-score of 60 represents a score that is one standard deviation above the mean]. This year, the T-scores confused students. If marks are in T-score form, candidates could score zero. But due to the lack of a public-relations campaign, students did not understand this.

I will also present average scores.

NIETS is going to organise only the O-Net. The Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC) is going to take charge of the A-Net [Advanced National Educational Test].

Will open-ended questions be included in the O-Net?

I think the O-Net should have open-ended questions. We may reduce the proportion of open-ended questions in the test. I have yet to talk to the test-preparation panel. So I don't know whether it's already designed the tests.

But if you ask me, open-ended questions should remain, and there should be a higher proportion in future. Actually, computers can score open-ended questions, too, but we must prepare the software and equipment well. So we won't use computers to score open-ended questions next year.

Does the UPCT agree with open-ended questions?

Actually, the UPCT supports open-ended questions but is unhappy with what happened this year. It does not want to place an extra burden on the NIETS. But open-ended questions are necessary. I'll consult the UPCT again.

What are your most pressing concerns?

Things I can't control. For example, teachers telling students  questions and answers. Control of test questions was not tight, nor was supervision in the exam rooms. The technology used with the O-Net had problems, too. When the O-Net was linked to university admission, there were all-out efforts to cheat. Now I'm going to ask OHEC and Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University to help prevent cheating.

Will you continue using Khon Kaen University's scoring software?

We are going to use OHEC software, because it proved to be accurate. By the way, the software will be used only for multiple-choice questions. For open-ended questions, I need to see them first to determine whether computers can score them. If not, we'll have to recruit humans to help. As for the software developed by Khon Kaen University, I'll review it to see if it can work.

You seem very relaxed about your new challenge?

I think things are mostly settled, because we've experienced the problems of this year. Besides, I'll be working with people I'm familiar with, and OHEC has taken over the A-Nets from us. The NIETS will have a reduced workload.

Brief biography

Utumporn was born in April 1943. With a doctorate in educational evaluation and statistics from the University of California at Los Angeles, she is director of the Internet Distance Education College of Assumption University. She has also chaired the UPCT university admissions panel.

Chularat Saengpassa

The Nation