After reviewing the UNESCO report, we see that the challenges in Asia's Education Examination Systems are:
- System encourages cheating and corruption: Current examination systems throughout the region are so important to students and parents; therefore are vulnerable to a number of problems including cheating, corruption, and excessive drilling and commercial tutoring.
- Despite the economic downturn, parents continue to spend much money trying to place their children into good educational institutes.
- The current systems put increased pressure on students to succeed. It also caused peer-pressure influence. For example, according to the paper, the increasing popularity of ‘‘cram schools’’ in India that prepare students to score higher in university entrance exams has increase pressure on students.
- Cause a change in social behaviors: For example, data showed that during the entrance examination in Korea, the workday began an hour late so that students could avoid the morning rush hour. Parents are packed at temples in Seoul to pray for the success of their children on their exams.
- One examination affected the other. For example, in Indonesia, students sit a standardized examination at the end of the primary, junior high and senior high school levels that determines admission to the next level of schooling. If the students could not pass the first exam level, they would not be able to enroll for the next level of education. This means that the student had to take another year in the same grade, plus it would cause a disgrace for the students and their families.
- The competition for national examination is high, but resource for rural areas is low. For example, in China, the most significant examination is the gaokao taken by Grade 12 students who want to enter university. Zhou Wenhui, a Grade 12 high school student in semi-rural Hunan province, said she is aware that it will be harder for her to score a classroom grade that is higher than her urban counterparts’ achievements due to less equitable access to quality learning. However, she believes the exam is an equalizer. ‘‘The exam lets poor kids have the chance to change their life,’’ she said as reported in the paper.
- The society puts too much value on exam scores. For example, in Thailand, Professor Utumporn Jamornmann, director of the National Institute of Educational Testing Service (NIETS) of Thailand, commented that Thai students and parents did not have a lot of confidence in the public school system so they opt for tutoring to assist their children to achieve a higher score in exams. But to improve students’ performances, society must invest in and develop the learning and teaching that take place in the classroom,’’ she says.
The UNESCO report reviews the current practices and other salient features of examinations in different countries. It focuses particularly on public (standardized) examinations and makes suggestions on what can be done to improve examination systems.
In summary, the report suggested improvement strategies as follow:
1 Assuring integrity of assessments
2 Reducing examination pressures
3 Catering for an expanding and more diverse student candidature
4 Assessing a wider range of curricular objectives
5 Assuring quality and gaining public confidence
Full report can be downloaded at UNESCO website, or click here for the link.
After reviewing the UNESCO report, we see that the challenges in Asia's Education Examination Systems are:
- System encourages cheating and corruption: Current examination systems throughout the region are so important to students and parents; therefore are vulnerable to a number of problems including cheating, corruption, and excessive drilling and commercial tutoring.
- Despite the economic downturn, parents continue to spend much money trying to place their children into good educational institutes.
- The current systems put increased pressure on students to succeed. It also caused peer-pressure influence. For example, according to the paper, the increasing popularity of ‘‘cram schools’’ in India that prepare students to score higher in university entrance exams has increase pressure on students.
- Cause a change in social behaviors: For example, data showed that during the entrance examination in Korea, the workday began an hour late so that students could avoid the morning rush hour. Parents are packed at temples in Seoul to pray for the success of their children on their exams.
- One examination affected the other. For example, in Indonesia, students sit a standardized examination at the end of the primary, junior high and senior high school levels that determines admission to the next level of schooling. If the students could not pass the first exam level, they would not be able to enroll for the next level of education. This means that the student had to take another year in the same grade, plus it would cause a disgrace for the students and their families.
- The competition for national examination is high, but resource for rural areas is low. For example, in China, the most significant examination is the gaokao taken by Grade 12 students who want to enter university. Zhou Wenhui, a Grade 12 high school student in semi-rural Hunan province, said she is aware that it will be harder for her to score a classroom grade that is higher than her urban counterparts’ achievements due to less equitable access to quality learning. However, she believes the exam is an equalizer. ‘‘The exam lets poor kids have the chance to change their life,’’ she said as reported in the paper.
- The society puts too much value on exam scores. For example, in Thailand, Professor Utumporn Jamornmann, director of the National Institute of Educational Testing Service (NIETS) of Thailand, commented that Thai students and parents did not have a lot of confidence in the public school system so they opt for tutoring to assist their children to achieve a higher score in exams. But to improve students’ performances, society must invest in and develop the learning and teaching that take place in the classroom,’’ she says.
The UNESCO report reviews the current practices and other salient features of examinations in different countries. It focuses particularly on public (standardized) examinations and makes suggestions on what can be done to improve examination systems.
In summary, the report suggested improvement strategies as follow:
1 Assuring integrity of assessments
2 Reducing examination pressures
3 Catering for an expanding and more diverse student candidature
4 Assessing a wider range of curricular objectives
5 Assuring quality and gaining public confidence
Full report can be downloaded at UNESCO website, or click here for the link.
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