The Bhutanese Leading the way.
After passing class 12, students have to appear for an entrance exam to be shortlisted for enrollment in higher education.
The Bhutanese attempted to contact several class 12 pass-outs who appeared for the entrance exams, and received feedback about it.
Karma Peldhen, a recent high school graduate said, “The new entrance exam for college admissions represents a significant shift with both opportunities and challenges. I see it as a great opportunity for students to showcase their talents and capabilities.”
“This new approach could potentially provide a more comprehensive view of each student’s abilities beyond just academic performance,” he added.
However, he also mentioned that it also raises questions about how to ensure fairness and equity in the evaluation process.
Sonam Choki, another high school graduate, shared her thoughts on the entrance exam. She said, “The entrance exam for college admission gives equality to everyone who is applying for the colleges. It helps to showcase their skills and knowledge. It helps learners to gain skills like critical thinking, decision making, and problem-solving.”
When it comes to fairness, she agrees that it is fair for every student, as she mentioned that every student deserves equal opportunities to showcase their potential rather than just deciding everything with their marks of BHSEC.
Sangay Lekden, who finished high school in the year 2023, shared that performing an entrance exam for college admission is a good system because many students will have to put in effort and hard work to study again after a break, and it will help the students know the value of rigor and resilience.
He also agrees that the system is fair as it helps the students discover what they have got to showcase.
On the other hand there are also those who feel that a written entrance exam is another additional academic burden to carry and if the RUB really wants to find competencies and interest then it should conduct interviews instead.
The Vice Chancellor of the Royal University of Bhutan (RUB), Nidup Dorji, when asked about the rationale behind implementing entrance exam for class 12 pass out students to gain admission, mentioned that RUB started entrance exams in some of the RUB colleges, such as GCIT termed as ‘’Competitional Thinking Test’ two years ago.
As per the Vice Chancellor, the purpose of this entrance exam is to give fair opportunities for everyone who has completed their class 12 to get into a program of their choice based on their aptitude.
“Earlier it was based on just class 12 marks, but we found out that there were students who actually bought high marks got into the program, but the program was not necessarily the program of his or her choice. They got in because they brought high marks, where some of them had to drop as they had no interest in it. Maybe academically capable, but had no interest,” the Vice Chancellor said.
It was notice by RUB that students choose to appear for the entrance exams due to their interest in the given programs, and it is not just because they have high marks. So, entrance exam does not only benefit a student, but also the colleges as they get students who are really interested in the programs they choose. This may have also decreased the failure rate, although RUB does not have a concrete data on this.
“We do not just evaluate based on the subject, what we’re testing is more into the students’ logical thinking, analytical skills and how they would cope with the demands of the subject. Class 12 marks are just used for shortlisting, students have to first choose the program they are interested in, keeping in mind the minimum criteria required,” Vice Chancellor added.
The criteria considered while determining the format and content of the entrance exam is focused on testing the students’ aptitude, and their interest in the program, focusing on their logical thinking.
In terms of the process to select the final students for a program, RUB stated that it is transparent, as even a college president will not know who got in and who didn’t until an announcement is officially declared.
As everything will be marked by the appointed tutors, it will be uploaded to the website, will all based on what students get from appearing for an entrance exam and an interview indicating an equal opportunity for every student.
RUB shared that the students who are to appear or who already appeared for the entrance exam can express how they find the introduction of the entrance exam as RUB is willing to welcome any feedback on the matter.
However, the feedback session shall not be based on criticizing the introduction of entrance exam or if one could not get in.
If there are suggestions that could benefit individuals, RUB is willing to accommodate feedback, not only from the students, but also from the parents.
Vice Chancellor Nidup Dorji said, “In the future, we will have entrance exams for every course, right now we are implementing it selectively. This year, we have done for colleges like GCIT, CST, and GCBS and for three programs in Sherubtse College.”
I would like to say that this decision for being conducting an entrance exam is significantly fair and helpful to all the students.
In opinion I found out that this can indeed check the enthusiasm and capability of the student in the specific course or college. I had done my entrance exam for the CST college. While preparing for the test I have learn lots of stuffs and values of education.
Eventually, I even succes to get the college.
It is not fair la. The test that held at Gyalpozhing College practice cheats la. My friend said, there supervisor are fourth year student and his class got one simple sister who can’t walk around whereas lend up remaining in chair for whole test. So his mate took phone, reference and get helped from google.