Lawyers' group calls for elimination of gender-based entrance examinations for metropolitan high schools

A group of lawyers has published an opinion piece calling for the abolition of the gender-based entrance examinations for metropolitan high schools, which are the only ones in Japan to have separate entrance examinations for boys and girls, claiming that the difference in passing scores between boys and girls, which tends to disadvantage girls, is constitutionally problematic.

In the entrance examinations for full-time regular courses at metropolitan high schools, the only one in Japan to have separate admission quotas for boys and girls, girls tend to have difficulty passing the exam unless they score higher than boys, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly has pointed out the need to review the system.

On the 28th, a group of lawyers held a press conference and released a written opinion calling for the swift abolition of the gender-based entrance examination system and the fair implementation of entrance examinations, stating that "the entrance examination system for metropolitan high schools infringes on the constitutionally guaranteed right to receive an equal education according to one's ability.

The letter also states that some public high schools in other municipalities have abolished the gender section of the application form itself, which is also problematic in terms of taking into consideration the diversity of gender identity.

Yasuko Sasa, a lawyer who spoke at the press conference, said, "Designing a system based on gender is a denial of selection based on ability, and it is no longer an 'academic test,' which is an unacceptable form of sex discrimination.

Source: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20210628/k10013107671000.html?utm_int=news-new_contents_list-items_028