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Kyoko, the biggest homschooling activist in Japan, sent this, which is BIG
news there.



Int'l school students, dropouts get university break
http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20020702p2a00m0dm013000c.html



International school graduates as well as some 110,000 Japanese students who
drop out of high school annually will soon be qualified to sit for university
entrance examinations, officials said Tuesday.

Previously, under a directive of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology, only high school graduates, those who finish primary
and secondary education abroad, and those who pass special qualification
tests are able to apply to universities.

Therefore, high school dropouts and those who graduate from international
schools and Korean high schools in Japan are not qualified for universities.

But officials of the Education Ministry have now decided to alter the
directive to the effect that anyone over 18 years old is able to enter
universities when they are deemed qualified by each university's own
screening.

The new directive that allows almost anyone over 18 years old to sit for
university entrance examinations will apparently come into effect from the
next school year.

Up until now, because of the old directive, hundreds of international school
graduates, some 1,000 Korean high school graduates and 110,000 Japanese high
school dropouts have had to pass special qualification tests before applying
to universities in Japan.

The change in directive is good news especially for high school dropouts
because it will drastically clear them from the burden of the special
qualification tests.

The qualification tests have required most high school dropouts to pass paper
tests in some 10 subjects such as mathematics, Japanese and English.

Private and local government-run universities have already begun admitting
international school graduates, but state-run universities have required them
to pass qualification tests first. (Mainichi Shimbun, July 2, 2002)

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Why the change, I wonder? Is enrollment in universities down and they're
looking to boost it or have there been legal problems or what? Very
interesting.

Noemi, do you know more about this?

Deb L