Thais score lowest in English skill assessment
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Good command means higher chance for better jobs
Thai workers got the lowest average score in English skills among counterparts in Southeast Asia while Singaporean workers scored highest, according to the JobStreet.com English Language Assessment (JELA).
The results are from the 1,540,785 people who participated in the assessment in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
Thanaporn Satitpunwaycha, country manager of Jobstreet.com Recruitment (Thailand) Co, said the assessment scores indicated that new graduates need to improve their English communication skills. This problem must be addressed, as good English skills are one of the most important factors employers are looking for in new hires.
In other words, people who have a good command of the English language will have a higher chance of getting the better jobs.
JELA consists of 40 questions randomly picked from the 1,000 questions of the programme. Singaporeans obtained the highest scores at an average of 81 per cent, followed by Filipinos at 73 per cent, Malaysians at 72 per cent, Indonesians at 59 per cent and Thais at 55 per cent.
In Thailand, people with careers in news/editorial, marketing/business development, and secretarial/executive and personal assistant got the highest average scores.
JELA participants were from many positions and levels.
It was found that entry-level employees of three or less years’ experience got the lowest scores on average.
As well, participants’ scores corresponded to their job level. Those in high levels had higher scores. New staff and junior executives scored an average of 53 per cent. Senior executives scored an average of 57 per cent, regular managers 60 per cent and senior managers 64 per cent.
Looking at the assessment results by order of occupation, it was found that participants from news/editorial, marketing/business development and secretarial/executive and personal assistant hit the highest average scores at 63 per cent.
In contrast, those in manufacturing/production only scored 17 per cent.
