CHED: Holding online college entrance exams ‘problematic’; questions need redesigning

MANILA, Philippines — Conducting entrance examinations online for admission of students in colleges and universities is a little “problematic,” the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said Monday.

CHED chair Prospero De Vera said the integrity of the tests is at risk hence the need to redesign the questions if this type of entrance examination will be administered for admission in the next school year.

“Kailangan baguhin mo ang disenyo ng exam kung gagawin mo online. Yan yung medyo problematic area sa ngayon, yung pagdating ng entrance exam para sa academic year 2021-2022,” De Vera said in an interview over Teleradyo.

(There is a need to change the exam’s design if it will be conducted it online. That’s a little problematic area right now: the entrance exam for the academic year 2021-2022.)

“Ang mahirap kasi sa online, hindi mo alam kung ang bata ang sumasagot o may sumasagot para sa kanya. Yan ang pinakamahirap na disenyo ng exam. Hindi katulad noon, proproctor mo, pupunta sila sa classroom para mag-exam,” he added.

(What’s difficult with online tests is you don’t know if the student is the one answering or someone else is answering for them. That’s the hardest examination design. Unlike before, there’s a proctor and students go to a classroom to take the exam.)

De Vera cited the University of the Philippines (UP), which is “not yet” ready to administer its UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) online.

“Ang nagkakaproblema ngayon ang UP sa UPCAT kasi hindi naka-disenyo ang UPCAT na online. Dapat yan ibibigay ngayong third quarter of the year para sa susunod na school year pero hindi pa nagagawa o hindi pa ready i-administer ang online UPCAT kasi maraming mageexam, lagpas 100,000,” De Vera said.

(UP is having problems right now with UPCAT since it is not designed for online. The exam should be given this third quarter of the year for the next school year, but it is not yet done or it is not ready to be administered online given that UPCAT has a lot of examinees, more than 100,000.)

UP earlier announced that the administration of UPCAT for next school year is still “being studied and planned more extensively” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

JE