Nearly 1 in 4 of the 6,000 college students who took a test last year on basic math skills incorrectly answered a question taught to elementary school sixth-graders, according to the Mathematical Society of Japan.
The society, which carried out the basic math test between April and July to gauge college students' mathematical ability, said Friday that 18 percent of those who incorrectly answered the question — which involved averages — were science majors.
Science students accounted for around 40 percent of the students who took the test, which was held for the first time in 2011.