COMPARING ASIA
EDUCATIONAL EXAMINATION SYSTEMS:
 CAMBODIA
Educational
Examination:
1. National Examination for Lower- Secondary Education Certificate -
End of Year 9 (completion of lower secondary and entry to upper
secondary)
2. National Examination for Upper-Secondary Education Certificate - End
of Year 12 (completion of upper secondary and entry to higher education)
Provided by:
Examination Office of the General Secondary Education Department,
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport
CHINA
Educational
Examination:
- National Higher Education Entrance Examination -
End of Year 12 (entry to higher education)
Provided
by: National Education Examinations Authority,
Ministry of Education
HONG KONG of China
Educational
Examination:
1. Hong Kong
Certificate of Education Examinations (HKCEE) - End of Year 11
(completion of Year 11 of upper secondary and entry to Year 12 of upper
secondary)
2. Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE) - End of Year 13
(completion of upper secondary and entry to higher education)
Provided
by: Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment
Authority
INDIA
Educational
Examination:
1. All India
Secondary School Examination (AISSE)- End of Year 10 (completion of
Year 10 and entry to Year 11 of upper secondary)
Provided
by: Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
2. Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) - End of Year 10
(completion of Year 10 and entry to Year 11 of upper secondary)
Provided
by: Council for Indian School Certificate
Examination (CISCE)
3. All India Senior School Certificate Examination (AISSCE) - End of
Year 12 (entry to higher education)
Provided
by: Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
4. Indian School Certificate (ISC - End of Year 12 (entry to higher
education)
BY [Private board for Anglo-Indian studies]
INDONESIA
Educational
Examination:
1. School
Final National Examination (UASBN) - End of Year 6 (completion of
primary and entry to lower secondary)
2. National Examination (UN- Ujian Nasional) - End of Year 9
(completion of lower secondary and entry to upper secondary)
3. National Examination (UAN- Ujian Akhir Nasional) - End of Year 12
(completion of upper secondary and entry to higher education)
Provided
by: National Education Standards Agency
JAPAN
Educational
Examination:
- National Center Test for University Admissions
End of Year 12 (entry to higher education)
Provided
by: National Center for University Entrance
Examinations
Lao PDR
Educational
Examination:
1. Lower Secondary Achievement Examination for Lower
Secondary Diploma
End of Year 8 (completion of lower secondary and entry to upper
secondary)
2. Upper Secondary Achievement Examination for Upper Secondary Diploma
End of Year 11* (completion of upper secondary and entry to quota
places in higher education)
3. National Entrance Examination
End of Year 11* (entry to non quota places in higher education and
post-secondary non- tertiary)
* Year 12 will be introduced in year 2010/11.
Provided
by: Ministry of Education
MALAYSIA
Educational
Examination:
1. Lower
Certificate of Education (PMR)
End of Year 9 (selection to certain programmes in upper secondary)
Provided
by: Malaysian Examination Syndicate, Ministry of
Education
2. Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM or MCE)
End of Year 11 (completion of Year 11 of upper secondary and entry to
post-secondary
Provided
by: Malaysian Examination Syndicate, Ministry of
Education
3. Malaysian Higher School Certification Examination (STPM)
End of Year 13 (entry to higher education)
Provided
by: Malaysian Examinations Council, Ministry of
Education
THE PHILIPPINES
Educational
Examination:
- National
Career Assessment Examination (NCAE)
End of Year 10 (assessment of career choice for higher education)
Provided
by: National Educational Testing and Research
Center of the Department of Education
Republic of KOREA
Educational
Examination:
- College
Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT)
End of Year 12 (entry to higher education)
Provided
by: Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation
SINGAPORE
Educational
Examination:
1. Primary
School Leaving Examination (PSLE) - End of Year 6 (completion of
primary and entry to secondary education)
2. General Certificate of Education ‘N’ and ‘O’ Level Examinations -
End of Year 10 (entry to post-secondary)
3. General Certificate of Education ‘A’ Level Examinations - End of
Grade 12 (completion of post- secondary and entry to higher education)
Provided
by: Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board
THAILAND
Educational
Examination:
1. Ordinary
National Education Test (O-NET)
End of Years 6, 9 and 12 (national assessment at primary, lower
secondary, and upper secondary levels required for all students)
2. General Aptitude Test (GAT) and Professional Aptitude Test (PAT)
End of Year 12 (entry to higher education)
Provided
by: National Institute of Educational Testing
Service
VIETNAM
Educational
Examination:
1. National
High School Graduation Exam or Viet Nam Baccalaureate-VB Exam
End of Year 12 (completion of upper secondary)
2. University Entrance Examination (UEE)
*These two exams will be replaced by one exam for completion of upper
secondary and entry to higher education
End of Year 12 (entry to higher education)
Provided
by: Ministry of Education and Training
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Throughout
the Asia-Pacific region, examinations are extremely important as they
are viewed as the main mechanism for controlling access to the next
educational level for students. Dr Peter Hill, an author of the
newly released UNESCO Bangkok publication, "Asia Pacific Secondary
Education System Review", said in his publication that the examinations
controlled the students' next grade level; access into the most
prestigious schools or universities; and, ultimately, decided whether
the students would get good jobs or get the best choice of
opportunities in life.
Because of this importance, students living in the Asia-Pacific region
are more likely to feel pressure and be stressed out before sitting for
an examination as so much depends on achieving high scores. At the same
time, the education industry was blamed for lack of social and economic
responsibility. The industry responds to the needs by offering
too costly private cram coures at high prices that drive poor parents
and students into debt. The parents also go to great lengths to
ensure their children have every possible advantage in attaining
success in examinations, said the paper.
The UNESCO publication Examination Systems stated that exams have 3
purposes:
1. It is a selection
function and entails controlling access to secondary schools, courses
within schools and entry to higher education institutions.
2. It is a certifying function and entails finding
out and reporting what a student has achieved, whether they have
graduated, and what they know and are able to do.
3. The systems often make use of examination results
for accountability purposes and, in particular, for evaluating the
effectiveness of instruction, for motivating students and teachers to
perform well, and for reviewing the effectiveness of school
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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