Digital Multiple Application for High School Entrance Exam

Ministry of Education considers introduction of multiple application in entrance examination for public high schools in Japan. Consulting with Digital Agency of the government of Japan, the Educaiton Ministry discusses possibility to introduce digital multiple application system, in which a student can apply to a high school beyond his/her ability. There is, meanwhile, a concern that public high schools will be ranked by digital technology.

System of entrance exams for public high schools are highly systematized in each prefecture of Japan. Most prefectures adopt single application system for a person. A student graduating a mid-school chooses only one high school to take the exam. All the students take the same test on the same day in each prefecture. The students who scored beyond the line, which is drawn due to capacity, will enter the high school.

 

What would the student who did not pass the exam do? They go to private high schools. Private high schools, except some which accept super elites, are open for the students who failed in the exam of public high schools, having entrance exam on different day from public high schools. The biggest reason why public high schools are popular for most students is because payment for tuition is cheaper than private high schools.

 

For students in low-income families, it is not easy for them to go to private high school. The student needs to pass public high school’s entrance exam. That is why, the student tends to apply to a high school that he/she can surely pass the line, defying highly-ranked school. In some cases, it may not be the school that the student really wants to go. The ministry thought that multiple application can solve the problem.

 

In the idea for new system, a student can apply to multiple high schools with priority. The examiner, mostly the educational committee of each prefecture, will select a high school for the student who passed the line. Algorithm will choose the best school for each student, based on the score obtained in the exam. A student can apply to a highly-ranked high school without worries about failure, if he/she has alternatives for other public high schools.

 

Accepting request from the opposition parties, Shigeru Ishiba administration decided to introduce tuition-free policy. That policy is regarded as encouraging more students to go to private schools without taking tuition into account. It is likely that multiple application system is a measure to preserve students of public high schools in each prefecture. “I hope to accumulate data of merit of the multiple application system and problems in the prefectures that are willing to introduce it,” said Ishiba in a meeting of the government.

 

It is still unclear how the examiner can select the best high school for a student. It is supposed that algorithm can only assess scores in entrance exam, regardless personality of the student. The system may not guarantee the best choice for the student.

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