Stung by the poor results of a national achievement test covering math, science, and Japanese, Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura wants to raise scores on next year's exam by linking the test results to personnel evaluations and bonuses for school principals and teachers.
But in the face of opposition from education experts, as well as a busy political calendar and next spring's municipal assembly elections, putting the idea into action by next summer will be a tall order.
The annual test is conducted by the education ministry in April and taken by sixth-grade elementary school students and third-year junior high students.