The 19th anniversary event of the National Institute of Educational Testing Service (Public Organization) in the theme of the national measurement and assessment moving forward the international standards.

On September 2, 2024, the National Institute of Educational Testing Service (Public Organization), or NIETS, had a celebration event of the 19^th anniversary of the NIETS establishment on the theme “19^th NIETS Plus: the national measurement and assessment moving forward the international standards.” The event had been honored by the Minister of Education (Police General Permpoon Chidchob) as a chairman in ceremony and award giving. NIETS’s chairman of the board (Mr.Thienchai Na Nakorn) addressed NIETS’s roles and guidelines in the future, while Asst. Prof. Sirida Burachat, Ph.D., stated key objectives and essential operation reports at the Mayfair Ballroom A-B of the Berkeley Hotel Pratunam, Bangkok. The attendees from NIETS’s committee, subcommittee, executives, relevant representatives as teachers, students, and mass media.

The theme of PLUS cans be explained as below:

P- Point (point to the quality of education)

L – Large = Large scale (the national testing)

U – Utility (the utility of testing results for developing educational quality)

S –Standard and Service Mind (standards stability and kind service mind)

The objectives of this event presented the last overall operation and the further trails in the future in order to enhance the measurement and assessment of Thailand education forward the international standards and carry on the benefits of all parts.

Police General Permpoon Chidchob, the minister of education, addressed that in the national testing procedure, NIETS was the focal impulse for developing the quality of Thai people to the international level. According to the assessment results from measuring tools, testing methods, and standardized testing reports, they provided findings and data that applied to comparing the quality of education at a variety of levels, upgrading educational plans, and data support for decision-making in policy design. The testing results did not only reflect the quality of learners, but also inequality, educational management quality of institutes, and teaching management of teachers. They gave a set of advantages to educational institutes for detection and review procedures of teaching and learning based on individual differences in order to force the full capability development of learners. As I took charge of the minister of education, which manipulates NIETS, I realized the intensive performance of NIETS according to the policies “Anywhere, Anytime” and “Good study and be happy,” which targeted having an excellent education and life stability. It aimed to be the leader of the national testing changes, which were challenging works for testing management, testing method system, and the functional operation of staff and examination halls under one standard for offering equality testing arrangements to a lot of testers. For this occasion, I congratulated the rewarded students and institutes at this time. The selective procedure for awarding, I prefer to use criteria of those institutes where students who volunteer for testing applications with NIETS in 100 percent and then earned the best award. Therefore, I wish NIETS to take good care of educational measurement and assessment for upgrading standards to the international high standard level.

Mr.Thienchai Na Nakorn, the NIETS’s chairman of the board, mentioned NIETS duties and guidelines in the future. The last 19 years, NIETS attempted to operate missions of public services for covering the royal decree of the establishment of the National Institute of Educational Testing Service (Public Organization) A.D. 2005 and the amendment. It reinforced missions with harmony and covering tasks, including quality control following standards, and equality realized of all over services everywhere. In my opinion, NIETS has been improved far enough and still needs self-reviewing to adjust its roles and guidelines for next paths in order to catch changes between the Thai educational context and the global context. It also involved the information technology growing affect to alterations of laws in variety dimensions such as individual information, the linkage of government data, and respecting people’s rights. Therefore, NIETS must consider missions with the development of national education measurement and assessment efficiency while holding and keeping national standards of educational testing. Moreover, NIETS needs to have a good organization image for leading credibility from public and collaboration building from domestic and international units, from the public and private sectors, in order to be the hub of measurement and assessment of education at the national and international level.

Asst. Prof. Sirida Burachat, Ph.D., the director of NIETS, stated the performance report last year which following missions according to the policy of the minister of education (Police General Permpoon Chidchob). It could offer students the chance of good quality of standard education access and equivalence everywhere nationwide as the policy “Anywhere Anytime” and “Good study and be happy.” NIETS currently provides operation according to missions as (1) develop innovation using modern and effective technology, the changed platform of the national testing from paper pencil based to digital testing based. (2) develop the system of online test marking for subjective exams. (3) Using information technology systems for enhancing the quality of learning, such as online testing systems for improving learning, online training for learning measurement and assessment, in order to create exams via 17 national digital testing platforms, including the O-NET testing exam and answer-giving dissemination. (4) Provide and support institutes to use findings and data from the national testing for improving the quality of teaching and learning both online and onsite. For this year, NIETS arranged 81 awards for giving honors, morale, and motivation for institutes and students, consisting of:

• Students had the highest scores of the national testing results, 8 awards.
• Schools had the highest scores of O-NET testing results, 52 awards.
• Schools had the highest scores of improvement for the national testing results of N-NET, B-NET, and I-NET, 7 awards.
• Schools had the highest developing scores of O-NET testing results in Thai language subject (subjective question), 7 awards.
• The role model schools of Good Practice using the O-NET testing results for upgrading the quality of teaching and learning management, 3 awards.
• Schools in the project of promoting the usage of the O-NET testing results for upgrading the quality of teaching and learning management, which have the highest developing scores, 4 awards.

Furthermore, there was an academic talk on the topic “National Educational Assessment from Present to Future” with 4 experts consisting of Wattanaporn Rangapthuk, Ph.D., Asst. Prof. Jirada Wuttayakorn, Ph.D., Thanawit Jindapradit, Ph.D., Udomthipok Phraikaset, Ph.D., and Asst. Prof. Adisorn Naowanon, Ph.D. as a moderator. For interested people, they can watch the live programme and recoded clip via the NIETS official YouTube and Facebook.