Tokyo medical school admits rigging exams to curb women’s enrolment
An investigation reveals a pattern of deducting exam points from female candidates who ‘would tend to resign’ after getting married or giving birth
A medical university in Tokyo admitted on Tuesday that it had a practice of deducting entrance exam marks to curb the enrolment of any women as well as men who failed the exam many times, while promising to “root out” the score-rigging dating back to at least 12 years ago.
Tokyo Medical University said it was considering some relief measures for those who failed to pass the exams because of the deductions and preventive measures of dishonesty using surveillance cameras.
Keisuke Miyazawa, acting president of the university, said at a news conference that he intends to discuss with the government the possibility of belatedly accepting rejected applicants if identified.
Meanwhile, education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said his ministry would conduct an emergency survey targeting all colleges and universities which have a department of medicine to make sure fairness is maintained in their entrance exams.
The deduction of marks, which began in 2006 or earlier, “is nothing but discrimination against women,” said one of lawyers at a separate news conference earlier in the day as they disclosed the results of their internal investigation on back door admissions to the university.
