Sendai – A private high school in Miyagi Prefecture canceled its entrance exams a day before they were due to be held as “a preventive measure” as it was awaiting the results of coronavirus tests taken by several of its students, which later turned out to be negative, the school said Saturday.
Furukawa Gakuen Senior High School in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture, notified about 890 applicants who were scheduled to take the exams at five locations Saturday of the cancellation by email or through their junior high schools the day before.
The decision was made after several students at the high school took polymerase chain reaction tests Thursday. The results on Saturday showed that all the students tested negative.
“At a stage where we could not discount the possibility of infection, we made the health and safety as well as the mental state of our applicants our top priority,” Seiichi Matano, principal of the school, said in a statement.
The selection of 340 students will now be based on junior high school grades, and club and other school activities.
“There was some confusion but no major objection” on the part of applicants, a school official said.
No applicants showed up at the exam sites Saturday morning unaware of the cancellation, according to the school.
Furukawa Gakuen is known for its female volleyball team, which has won national tournaments.
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