All your efforts will down the drain under the new government?
UncategorizedNew Year is coming, but some youth are under considerable pressure.
We are going to welcome the new year soon, but the season of Japan’s entrance exam is coming as well. However, the statement regarding the policy of entrance exam by Japan’s Education minister Shinsuke Suematsu has caused a stir.
Taking the situation of Omicron variants into account, the ministry said on December 24 that students who have had close contact with patients of covid-19 will not be allowed to take the entrance exam on the scheduled date, even if they don’t have any symptoms and would have to take a makeup exam on later dates.
However, in a sudden, he backtracked and announced again on December 27 that the ministry revised the COVID-19 policy on upcoming unified university entrance exam and other tests at the press conference: The applicants who have come into close contact with those who have been infected with the omicron variant of the corona virus can take the entrance exam to national, public and private universities as scheduled if they meet four conditions.
1.They have negative result of PCR test. 2.They are asymptomatic on the date of the exam. 3.They don’t use public transport. 4.They must take the exam in a separate room from the other test-takers.
How can we enroll in the Japan’s university?
For most of Japanese, entrance exam is one of the biggest challenges in their lives. There are various exams to enter in the university, but this graph shows you some common ways.
I add some more infomations so that you can understand the Japanese education system on below.
Information:
・What are Rikei and Bunkei?
－in Japan, we have two traditional methods of sorting academic course, one is Rikei and another is Bunkei.
Rikei: students who are majored in some kinds of ancestry of natural science
Bunkei: students who are majored in some kinds of ancestry of social science
・Unified entrance exam: It is mandatory to take this exam if you want attend public or national university. It is held in January. If you got the satisfactory scores of the exam, you’ll be invited to second exam by your chosen university.
・All subjects: your exam includes math, two subjects of science, two subjects of social studies, Japanese, English.
・Subjects of Rikei: your exam includes Math, one subject from science, and English.
・Subjects of Bunkei: your exam includes Japanese, one subject from social science, and English.
So for example, if you want to be majored in Rikei at a public school
⇒Firstly, you take unified entrance exam which covers all subjects( math, two subjects of science, two subjects of social studies, Japanese, English) in January. And if you get the great score required by your chosen university, you will be invited to a second exam which covers math, one science subject, and English in February or March.
Japanese society still places a high value on academic background and attending a prestigious university is seen as a way of improving one’s chances of winning a job at a top company and being respected by others. Therefore, most of students have studied for passing the exam for more than two years not only at high school but also some go to cram schools for extra study after school.
However, not everyone could pass the exam at once, especially for students who want to study Medical. Thus, it is also common for students who fail the entrance exam and are called Ronin to study for entire year on their own and try it again next year.
And we write our wishes on the wooden plaques called Ema there and hang it like the right picture.）
In this way, Japanese youth have spent lots of their time to study for passing exams and now they are desperate to make one last effort and cram hard.
Why they haven’t discussed until now?
However, those serious situation of covid put an extra strain on applicants. That is infection prevention. They always have to not only study but also be careful not to get covid.
Moreover, this sudden backtrack made them more confused. Why hadn’t the government discuss the guidelines for test-takers who have had the close contact with patients until now?
Actually, since Japan’s overall infections and deaths have been plummeting in contrast with rebounds of other parts in Asia, we might be able to say “now is even better than before”. However, it was obvious that the government should have set the guidelines looking ahead to the future considering the omicron variants have surged around the world. In addition, it would be just a matter of time to spread the new variants here in Japan.
The students must feel even more stressful both physically and mentally than before the pandemic. It is all-important to take their feeling into the account.
And one last thing, this is not only the case that Japanese government’s lack of coordination in its coronavirus prevention measures is exposed. For instance, at the first of this month, Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida asked all of the airlines to halt new booking of airplane, which means you can’t be back to the home country anymore, even if you have Japanese citizenship. However, in just a one day, he took back his words.
It might be hard to predict the future under fluid situation, but they can set policies just in case.
“He has being tested by Japanese if he’s correct Japan’s prime minister now.“
references:
・Exam opportunities to be secured for omicron close contacts | The Japan Times