No More GEPT for kids?

The China Times is reporting that a panel of experts and Language Training and Testing Center staff have decided that childen under 12 will no longer be allowed to takethe General English Proficiency Test. MOre than 200,00 people took the test last year.

A related article says that the Buxiban industry is worried that this will hurt student recruitment.

That is great news.

l agree, great news.

Very good news. Now we can get back to the ideal of teaching kids English, and not how to take English tests…

just a matter of time 'til ETS(educational testing services- the monopoly behind all kinds of standardized tests) finds the market and sells an internet based exam to appease their needs.

the gov’t can make all the laws it wants. ain’t gonna stop people from ignoring them.

The question is not whether this is good news, very good news, or even great news.

The question is whether it is true news.

Credible, unnamed sources within the Language Training and Testing Center deny that any changes were made regarding the minimum age of test candidates for the GEPT.

Keep your eye on this issue.

The newspaper articles I cited said that it was a recommendation that had been made to the MOE. A series of public hearings were mentioned and it seems clear from related coverage that the Buxiban industry is going to push back. So this is far from being a done deal.

Supposedly, it is a done deal as of the next testing session (June), “No kids under 12 years of age.” Hopefully I can find a link.

Maybe they did this because not alot of people were passing the test?

Oddly enough the reason for this, so given, has nothing to do with concern over forcing young kids to jump through another of the mindless hoops they present children with here, but that it’s difficult to manage such young kids because of their frequent need to go to the toilet during tests.