In the wake of public criticism last week, junta No. 2 Prawit Wongsuwan has announced that Thailand’s university admission exam will likely be postponed so as not to fall on the same day as the long-awaited Feb. 24 election.
Speaking to a crowd of reporters yesterday, the deputy prime minister said that the election date will not change, but the Ministry of Education will instead look into changing the dates for the exams, known as the GAT/PAT tests.
The National Institute of Educational Testing Service announced last week that the exams would be held from Feb. 23-26. As high school seniors must submit their test scores to apply to universities, this prompted accusations in some quarters that the junta had intentionally scheduled the exams on the election date.
However, when approached by reporters at the Ministry of Defence yesterday for comment, Prawit initially seemed clueless.
“Are they old enough?” Prawit said of high school seniors. To which the reporters replied … well, yes.
“Then we’ll have to postpone the exams for voters to exercise their rights,” Prawit responded.
Meanwhile, another deputy prime minister, Wissanu Krea-ngam, also ensured that students will get to vote, although they might have to take their exams in the morning so they can cast their ballots in the afternoon, Thai Post reported.
“If the exam dates can be postponed, we’ll do it. If not, we’ll adjust the time of the exams. We will have an answer for this matter within days,” he said.
He dismissed the allegation that the exams were intentionally scheduled for polling day, claiming the relevant agencies had planned the exams for more than a year.
