Teen kicked out of Japan’s national college entrance exam for improper mask-wearing technique

If you can’t handle wearing a mask properly, you’re probably not ready for higher education.

It might mentally feel like we’ve been living under the pandemic for an eternity, but the reality is that it’s been less than a year since Japan started seeing significant coronavirus infection numbers. Because of that there are still annual events that are occurring for their first time under coronavirus concerns, and this month it’s been university entrance exams’ turn.

While some schools have their own tests, there’s also a semi-standardized one called the National Center Test for University Admissions, also known as the “Center Test,” that multiple universities use (it’s essentially Japan’s equivalent to the U.S. SAT). The exam, which was held nationwide last weekend, tests students on a variety of subjects, but for one Tokyo teenager it wasn’t the questions that tripped them up, but the requirement to wear a mask.

The exam organizers had informed all students sitting for the exam that they would be required to wear masks while taking the test, and the teen, who we’ll call A-san, did at least show up wearing one. During the test, though, A-san slipped the mask down below their nose. An administrator cautioned the teen several times during the test’s geography and history sections, instructing them to raise the mask up and cover their nose, only for the teen to later lower it again. During a break between sections, A-san was again told to keep their mask over their nose, their sixth warning up to that point, and told that one more failure to comply would result in disqualification.

▼ If kids can figure out masks, surely someone who’s gone through 12 years of schooling should be able to handle them

Sure enough, though, during the test’s English section A-san once again slipped the mask down under their nose. The teen was removed from the venue for improper conduct and their score thrown out, effectively giving them an exam score of zero in the eyes of college application evaluations.

As mentioned above, many universities in Japan have their own entrance exams which are held on separate days from the two-day Center Test, but for those that do require a Center Test score, A-san may be out of luck until 2022 when the test is offered again, and may possibly be spending the next year as a ronin, as a person who fails to earn admission to a school and has to wait until the next round of entrance exams to try again is called.

It’s worth noting that examinees were informed ahead of time that they’d be required to wear a mask, and any students for whom that would be difficult to comply with (due to respiratory issues, for example) were asked to contact the test administrators prior to the exam so that special seating arrangements that would not require a mask could be made. However, A-san did not do this, so between that and not putting their mask over their nose after being directly told to six times, a bit of reading/listening comprehension practice might be in order before next year’s test.

Sources: NHK News Web, Nihon Keizai Shimbun via Jin
Top image: Pakutaso (edited by SoraNews24)
Insert images: Pakutaso
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Credit: