Japan Govt eyes outsourcing new university entrance exams to private firms mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20141219p2a00m0na021000c.html The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is looking into commissioning private companies to administer new university entrance exams which may be introduced as early as 2019, according to sources familiar with the scheme. The new exams will come in two types and both will be held multiple times annually. This would drastically increase the central governments workload and lead to a sharp rise in exam fees, making it essential for the government to turn to private companies for help. The proposed scheme marks the first time that the government will rely on private companies to conduct university entrance exams under its jurisdiction. The government will, however, take a cautious approach to the plan, as it must guarantee the tests are fair and confidential. The two new exams are a high school basic scholastic achievement test and an academic evaluation test for university applicants. The former is intended to gauge the level of high school students basic scholastic achievements and will be used as the test component of the recommendation-based admission system. The latter will replace the present computer-checked National Center Test for University Admissions and be used by respective universities and colleges to evaluate applicants academic level. At present, the National Center for University Entrance Examination, an independent administrative entity, prepares tests and grades them. It jointly conducts the National Center Test with universities and colleges which use the exam results to filter applicants. The new exams will be mainly administered by a successor to the national exam center. But a senior education ministry official points out that it would be difficult for the new entity to do the job alone without sharply boosting the number of staffers, due to the two types of exam and the multiple number of exams to be held annually. If the new entity raises the number of staff, it may steeply jack up exam fees almost immediately (from 18,000 yen for three subjects or more under the current National Center Test). Accordingly, the ministry is considering outsourcing tasks like writing tests, grading, transporting exams and managing exam halls to prep schools and other educational enterprises with experience conducting trial exams to cut costs. Commissioning private firms to prepare an English language test is particularly essential because the new exam will check reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. In case of nationwide achievement tests for elementary and junior high school students, the education ministry prepares tests and analyzes test results, but commissions private firms to grade them. The ministry is considering initially outsourcing the high school basic scholastic achievement test to private firms and later the academic evaluation test for university applicants. December 19, 2014(Mainichi Japan)
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 20:16:34 +0000
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