The latest action taken to draft new guidelines for university entrance exams should be used as an opportunity to take a renewed look at the way such tests should be conducted.
In response to the irregularities perpetrated by some medical departments in their entrance exams, an expert committee at the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry has drafted a set of standardized rules applicable to all faculties on how to select successful examinees.
In the past, ministry instructions sent to each university in June every year that prescribed how to choose successful applicants only stated that entrance tests should be carried out through "fair and appropriate methods." The proposed rules indicate specific procedures to be followed in soliciting applications and judging the success or failure of each examinee.
Properly, each university should select successful applicants at its own initiative and discretion, based on its founding philosophy and other factors. It is deplorable that such rules must be laid down.
Although inappropriately conducted entrance tests took place at some universities, it is indispensable to secure the fairness of such exams at all universities.
The draft rules ban discrimination based on an examinee's gender and age, as such treatment is unacceptable to society. Before the problem came to light, several medical universities had continued to treat disadvantageously all female examinees, as well as applicants that had spent one or more years preparing for entrance tests after leaving high school. These rules are understandable, as they serve to clearly reiterate that such treatment of examinees must be eliminated.
The proposed rules also mentioned the need to judge the success or failure of each applicant through consultations at faculty meetings, entrance test committees or other organs. To secure the objectivity of selection processes, it is indispensable to avoid the centralization of power in certain persons and always pass judgment based on the opinions of several people.
Stop improprieties early
The draft rules also referred to a case in which a university creates preferential slots for such examinees as applicants from regional areas and students who have returned home after studying abroad. Each university has been asked to ensure that its application guidelines state the reason for giving such examinees preferential treatment, as well as the number of such slots. The move can be described as a necessary measure from the standpoint of increasing transparency in this respect.
The proposed rules urged universities to ensure written applications do not include entry columns for the names and occupations of applicants' parents, or the schools from which they have graduated. The rules also banned contact with parents and consultations with them about their possible donations.
These measures were based on consideration of cases such as those at Tokyo Medical University in which the children of people who had promised donations, as well as the offspring of people who graduated from that university, were secretly given preferential treatment. It is important to nip possible misconduct in the bud.
The Central Council for Education has proposed shifting university entrance exams from a rigidly uniform written test to one aimed at assessing applicants from various and comprehensive angles. This means the success or failure of each examinee should be determined based on such factors as records of examinees' activities in high school, short essays they write and the results of interviews with them.
This method is aimed at comprehensively assessing each applicant regarding whether they tackle tasks on their own initiative, possess creative ideas and cooperate with others. Although there is great significance to assessing abilities that do not appear in paper tests, it is necessary to secure the objectivity of that method.
The question is whether each university can offer explanations that are convincing to examinees and their parents. It is important for the university to state what kind of person it looks for and show a basic policy concerning how to select successful applicants, thereby devising screening methods based on the policy.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 10, 2019)
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