There is only one year left until the implementation of a new university entrance exam system proposed by a panel of experts. But the government on Dec. 17 decided to forgo the planned introduction of essay-type questions in Japanese and mathematics administered by the National Center for University Entrance Examinations.

The government made a similar about-face only last month, when it called off its plans to introduce private-sector English proficiency tests.

The experts’ panel, called Kyoiku Saisei Jikko Kaigi (literally, council to implement education revival), was founded in 2013 with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s total backing.

But now, the bulk of the panel’s reform proposals, made over the last six years, are practically back to square one. What a waste.

What caused this fiasco, and how will the government take responsibility?

Every education minister in office during that period--from Hakubun Shimomura to incumbent Koichi Hagiuda--must face the public and explain, as well as senior education ministry officials and education experts who guided the panel.

There always were doubts about the proposed introduction of essay-type questions.

Some of the main reasons were as follows: With about 500,000 students taking the tests, it would be practically impossible to evaluate all of them fairly; there will be a big gap between the candidate’s self-evaluation and the actual score; and ultimately, since the evaluation will be based on the candidates’ success in including certain key expressions and formulae in their answers, the result will not necessarily reflect their true cogitative and verbal skills.

Questions were also raised in the Diet about the appropriateness of commissioning the evaluation task to commercial organizations in the so-called entrance exam industry. Concerns about the latter abusing their privilege could not be fully eliminated, and the plan was called off as proposed by the ruling coalition.

But there were chances to revise or fine-tune the proposals.

At the latest, the gravity of the problem, stemming from the gap between candidates’ self-evaluation and the actual test score, was clearly recognized after the results of two exploratory studies were revealed in April.

The Asahi Shimbun’s editorials urged the government to review the situation by conducting further studies. But the education ministry, which was then headed by Masahiko Shibayama, refused to stop and rethink.

As a result, the entire concept collapsed because of the government’s groundless obsession with “implementation by fiscal 2020.”

To begin with, the new entrance exam system was supposed to proceed as an integral part of reforms being considered by individual universities, as well as curriculum reforms eyed by universities and senior high schools.

Yet, the government was set on cramming everything, so to speak, into the standardized test system. That, we think, was the root of all the inconsistencies or problems that kept arising.

We suspect the government, in its self-righteousness, believed it was duty-bound to “guide” the nation’s universities and high schools because the latter could not be trusted to carry out any successful reform.

And that, we presume, made the government all the more determined to willy-nilly push its own “new paradigm of reform” so it could take the glory.

Until the government has humbly reflected on and closely examined this background and lived up its accountability, it must not be allowed to start discussing “the next reform.” The nation does not need a repetition of this mess.

If we are to see a glimmer of hope despite what has transpired, it is that microphone-wielding senior high school students have gathered outside the education ministry building to express their well-reasoned arguments against the flawed entrance test system. Others have taken to collecting petitions on social media and successfully swayed public opinion.

The basic purpose of entrance test reform was to encourage high school students to value their independence and ability to think things through.

Teenagers are perfectly capable of that, and more. To our happy surprise, in fact, they have proved this by standing up to the government.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 18