A "private" conversation between GUFS testing center chief and me(very entertaining!)

[anitalane]

Not having received a reply whatsoever from GUFS test center concerning my inquiry on the supervisor' malpractice, I went to the center. Fortunately, the director (Ms. Li Haili) who had seemed never to be in office happened to be there. However, she demanded that the female friend who accompanied me leave the office. Although my friend promised that she would only listen quietly, she was still driven out because, as the director said, “this is a private matter only between the office and the test taker.”

In the midst of my “private” conversation with Ms. Li, a female staff came up to my friend, who has all along been standing quietly outside the office, saying something literally meaning , “ You trouble maker, what the hell are you making up?” and shouted through the window to the director, “Do you need me to help handle this woman?” My friend felt deeply insulted. It seems like they have successfully “handled” quite a few cases of complaining.

Ms. Li firmly refused every detail I reported in my complaining letter. She said that all the three test supervisors involved claimed that they had announced the regulations, including forbiddance of section crossing, and that a test taker had affirmed this. But when I requested to see any one of the three teachers, or to have the name and written statement of the test taker, she refused, saying that the teachers are too busy with their classes to arrange an appointment. She claimed that she has a video tape as evidence-which I would welcome very much indeed, but she didn’t allow me to see it. When I asked her whether it is a violation of principle if a test supervisor does not announce rules and regulations, she hesitated; after being asked several times, she reluctantly said yes.

Upon my question that whether GRE test supervisors in GUFS have received proper trainings and have a guidebook for test administration, Ms. Li’s answer was positive. She said the guild book is an all-English version provided by ETS and every teacher strictly complied with the items written on it. (Then I doubt whether some test supevisors have adequate English level to really understand this all-English book).Yet when I asked to have the title of the book or see it, she refused. She said she would have to consult ETS and get their permission.

I told her that on the test day (Oct 24), under the urge of several students, a test supervisor set the clock forward for at least three minutes, leaving us no time to read the instructions on the test book cover, but to do the questions immediately after filling out the answer sheets. She said she hadn’t received my written report about this and needed to confirm it with the three test supervisors again. However, I complained this to the deputy chief in charge of oversea examinations (Mr. Yang Guangsheng) on Oct 27, and Mr. Yang positively said that it was not allowed in GRE test. In contrast, Ms. Li said she didn’t think the simple clock issue makes much difference for a GRE test.

To sum up, according to Ms. Li, everything I reported was false, and I was deliberately making trouble.

I seriously doubt whether GUFS test center has carried out proper training program for test supervisors, or whether its operation was transparent enough to allow for effective supervision. Currently, GUFS is enjoying a position of monopoly in the filed of Toefl, GRE, and GMAT, along with a variety of other international and domestic examinations. However, since there is not an immediate supervisor in China to monitor their practice, they could blur or even distort any trace of evidence (if they leave any), when a malpractice arises. Therefore students who have received unjust treatment in the GUFS test centers could only consider this “a stroke of bad luck” and take the test again, paying another huge sum of money. GUFS is one of the only two GRE test centers in Guangdong Province, also the biggest, and the only one in the capital city of Guangzhou, where most universities are located. Both times I came to the test center, I noticed that there were not more than six people either working or talking there, yet these people are handling all GRE, Toefl, Toeic, and other important tests in Guangzhou City.

In fact, this rule regarding section crossing has never been strictly imposed by test supervisors or followed by test takers in China. There are many posts on the Internet forums hotly discussing how to cleverly cross section, or which test center’s supervisors are most “lenient”, to the degree of totally disregarding this rule. Perhaps it is just because of this ambiguous attitude toward section crossing that general introductions of GRE test in China seldom mention it? (For example, the official website for GRE registration in China does not mention this.)

I think this explains why some students prefer not to complain about their test center even though they have the right to: They themselves had profited from the supervisors’ negligence.