Japan to go ahead with descriptive questions in university entrance exam

November 9, 2019

Tokyo--Japan will introduce descriptive questions to the subjects of Japanese and mathematics under a new unified university entrance examination system starting in fiscal 2020 as planned, education minister Koichi Hagiuda said Friday.

"We will work to create a good exam that is easy to score," Hagiuda told a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament.

Hagiuda made the remarks in response to an opposition call for canceling the introduction of such questions due to the difficulty ensuring fairness in scoring.

As many as 500,000 people will be taking the new examination system.

The state-affiliated National Center for University Entrance Examination, the administrator of the new system, plans to outsource the scoring of descriptive questions to the private sector. Part-timers are expected to be involved in the scoring.

At the Upper House meeting, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologized for confusion caused by the government's decision to postpone the introduction of private-sector English tests for the new university entrance exam.

Abe reiterated an apology over the recent resignations of industry minister Isshu Sugawara and Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai. "I feel keenly responsible," Abe said. Jiji Press