The Education Ministry has reinstated the original schedule for the General Aptitude Test (GAT) and the Professional and Academic Aptitude Test (PAT) after the Election Commission set the official election date for March 24.
Peera Rattanawijit, deputy permanent secretary for education, on Thursday announced the exams will be moved from Feb 16-19 back to the original dates from Feb 23-26.
The decision was made after consultation with the Council of University Presidents of Thailand, which is responsible for setting the dates for the exams.
GAT and PAT scores are used by Matthayom 6 (Grade 12) students to apply for seats in universities.
The final dates were decided after the EC on Wednesday settled on March 24 as election day.
In November last year, the ministry moved the test schedule from the planned Feb 23-26 to Feb 16-19 due to speculation that the poll might be held on Feb 24. The change was to allow students eligible to vote to cast their ballots.
The change sparked outrage from many students, whose angry tweets using the strongly worded hashtag #DelayMyAss topped Thailand's trends. They complained the change would force teachers to rush to complete their courses and would allow less time for them to prepare for the exams. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha took to Twitter last month calling for patience.
"GAT PAT exams are back to the original dates," he tweeted on Wednesday -- and encouraged them to study hard for the tests.
