Thailand won’t allow entrance exam makeups, other Asian countries do

Thai students planning to take their university entrance exams must now miss the exam if they are in quarantine or self-isolation. The only other option is to take the exams next year. Meanwhile, other Asia countries are allowing students in quarantine and isolation to take this exam. China allowed students to take entrance exams at hospitals and special facilities, while invigilators wore protective clothing and hung up the finished papers to be sprayed with disinfectant.

South Korea allowed students to take it in self-isolation. Japan is less flexible than China and South Korea, however, the country still allowed students to take the test who had come into contact with Covid-19 patients but had no symptoms themselves. Students who showed symptoms were allowed to apply for a catch-up test that will take place from January 29 to 30. Japanese authorities urged universities to develop ways of helping students forced to miss the exam.

In response to the uproar by Thai students, the exam systems manager provided three reasons why the exams could not be made up. The manager, Associate Professor Dr. Chalie Charoenlarpnopparut, told Thai PBS World…

“First, to lower the risk of transmission, disease control laws prohibit infected cases from leaving quarantine. Second, we cannot hold exams in hospitals because all TCAS testing sites must have the same standards. Hospitals will not be able to comply [with those standards], and we do not have the ability to handle contaminated papers. Third, we cannot come up with different questions for a catch-up exam because our tests must be fair to all. There are no advantages or disadvantages.”

Source: Thai PBS World