As of Monday morning, this anti-U-Net Facebook page had over 90,000 likes.
By Terry Fredrickson
Thai university students appear to have one thing they agree on. They do not need another examination, especially the one being launched by the National Institute of Education Testings Service (Niets) known as U-Net.
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Uni students give U-Net thumbs down
Thai university students appear to have one thing they agree on.
They do not need another examination, especially the one being launched by the National Institute of Education Testings Service (Niets).
Known as the University National Educational Test (U-Net), it is designed to assess university graduates' basic competence in Thai and English communication skills, media literacy, critical thinking, moral reasoning and specific professional skills.
Niets announced that the U-net exam is designed to evaluate all graduates at bachelor, master and doctorate levels.
The plan prompted an immediate outcry and soon unhappy students were organising social media campaigns against it.
A Facebook page called NO!! U-NET launched last Thursday already has 90,000 "likes" and the page says that 50,000 names will be collected and sent to Niets to show their disagreement. (https://www.facebook.com/WeareAntiunet)
A campaign on the website Change.org to "halt the U-NET examination" has also attracted more than 40,000 supporters.(http://chn.ge/1ikqXtI)
Wittawat Loadae, a fourth-year student of Rajamangala University of Technology Krugthep’s Faculty of Liberal Arts, disagreed with U-Net as many tough examinations to evaluate students’ academic performance were already in place.
“There are a lot of exams that we have to face,” he said.
Mr Wittawat insisted that each major already has its own tests to ensure all students meet academic requirements.
Siripitch Siranyathawat, a fourth-year student at Mae Fah Luang University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts, also said the U-Net exams would place an unnecessary burden on students.
“I disagree with this idea," Ms Siripitch said.
"My university has already has exams like U-Net, called an exit exam.
"All students of all majors must undertake this exit exam to assess their academic performance before graduating.”
Niets board chairman Somwang Pitiyanuwat insisted on moving forward with the U-Net amid disagreement.
“Niets is duty bound to develop the tool to assess quality of education at all levels including basic schools, vocational education and non-formal education," he said.
"But we do not yet evaluate graduates’ standards at university level.”
Adapted from a story by Lamphai Intathep and Wirin Chookaew. You can read the full story here: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/406820/new-graduate-exam-a-pain
Vocabulary
academic: relating to education - เชิงวิชาการ
appear: to seem - ดูเหมือนจะ, ดูเหมือนว่า
assess: to carefully consider a situation, person, or problem in order to make a judgment - ประเมิณ, ประเมิณสถานการณ์
attract: to cause someone to be interested in something - ดึงดูดความสนใจ
bachelors degree: bachelors degree – the first degree that you get when you study at a university. Bachelor’s degrees include Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BSc) - ระดับปริญญาตรี
campaign: a series of actions intended to produce political or social change - การรณรงค์
competence: the ability to do something well - ความสามารถ
critical thinking: the ability to think clearly in a reasoned way คิดแบบมีวิจารณญาณ - คิดแบบมีวิจารณญาณ
design: to think of and plan a system, a way of doing something, etc - ออกแบบ, วางแผน, กำหนด
doctorate degree: the highest degree or qualification from a university - ปริญญาเอก
evaluate: to form an opinion of the amount, value or quality of something after thinking about it carefully - ประเมินผล, ประเมินค่า
face: to (likely or possibly) have to deal with a problem - เผชิญ, พบ, เจอ
faculty: a group of departments in a college or university which specialise in a particular subject or group of subjects - คณะ
immediate: happening or done now, without any delay - ทันทีทันใด
in place: prepared and ready to use - เข้าที่, อยู่ในที่
launch: to start a new public service - เริ่มโครงการ, เริ่มต้น
level: a position or rank in a scale of size or importance - ระดับ
liberal arts: subjects of study that develop students' general knowledge and ability to think, rather than their technical skills - ศิลปศาสตร์
literacy: ability or knowledge in a specific area - การรู้ขั้นพื้นฐาน
master's degree: a further university degree that you study for after a first degree - ระดับปริญญาโท
media: radio, television, newspaper, the Internet, considered as a group - สื่อ
moral: relating to right and wrong and the way that people should behave - ทางศีลธรรม, เกี่ยวกับความรู้สึกผิดชอบชั่วดี
outcry: a strong expression of anger and disapproval about something, made by a group of people or by the public - การคัดค้านอย่างรุนแรง
performance: the standard to which someone/something does something - การกระทำ, การแสดง, การทำให้บรรลุผลสำเร็จ
professional: doing something as a paid job rather than as a hobby - ที่ทำเป็นอาชีพ
prompted: caused - ก่อให้เกิด
reasoning: the process of thinking about things in a logical way; opinions and ideas that are based on logical thinking - เหตุผล, การใช้เหตุผล, การอ้างเหตุผล
social media: the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue, e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc. - เครือข่ายสังคมออนไลน์
specific: detailed and exact - โดยเฉพาะ, เฉพาะเจาะจง
thumbs down: disapproval, not liking or supporting something - ความไม่เห็นด้วย
tough: difficult to do or to deal with - ยาก ยากลำบาก
