In a brewing scandal that has shaken the public's trust in the fairness of university entrance exams, the education ministry has reported that several more institutions are suspected of discriminating against women and those taking the tests multiple times while favoring certain applicants, such as relatives of alumni, in admissions for their medical schools. The ministry would not disclose the names of the universities in question, on the grounds that the probe is still underway, and has urged the institutions to voluntarily account for their problematic entrance exam practices. Since applicants are already in the final stages of their preparations for the entrance exams to be held next spring, prompt actions by the universities are in order to avoid any confusion or uncertainty on the part of the hopefuls.
In its probe into around 80 universities with medical schools across Japan, triggered by malpractice uncovered earlier at Tokyo Medical University, the ministry said suspected cases of improper practices in entrance exams have been identified in an unspecified number of other universities. The misconduct included favoring students just coming out of high school during the document-screening portion of the application process; unfairly treating female applicants and those trying to enter the school for the second time or more, even though they performed as well as others in the paper exams; and admitting the sons and daughters of school alumni even though their paper exam scores had fallen short. In another example of "suspicious" practices, the ministry cited the case of a university that required applicants to list in their application forms the jobs of their parents and other relatives as well as the names of the schools from which they graduated.
It would be inexcusable if the universities manipulated the exam scores of certain applicants without rational grounds or advance explanations to the applicants. These alleged practices undermine equality in education opportunities and fairness in entrance exams.