Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto on Monday urged students at Sakuranomiya High School to accept entrance exam suspensions proposed for some departments in light of the suicide scandal there, the local board of education said.
Hashimoto proposed the suspension after the Osaka city board of education revealed earlier this month that a 17-year-old student took his life in late December after being repeatedly slapped by his basketball coach at the city-financed school. The board has confirmed that corporal punishment was practiced in basketball and other sports there.
The mayor has also asked the board to replace all of the teachers there.
Hashimoto told the students and teachers Monday that it shouldn't accept new students before coming up with a new educational direction, the board said.
A student representative objected to the exam suspensions, emphasizing that the city should not deprive students of opportunities to take them in departments vital to the school, it said.
Parents of students at the school have also voiced opposition to the proposal.
Osaka Bar Association head Tsuneaki Yabuno warned Monday that a suspension would infringe students' right to receive an education at the school.