The Working Group of the Central Council for Education, an advisory body to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, has compiled a report that will make the aptitude test imposed on all law school examinees voluntary in the future.The aim is to widen the doors of examinees by taking measures in line with the requests of the law graduate school, which has been suspended from recruitment due to the slump in the number of examinees.
According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, it is undecided when the aptitude test will be voluntary, but there is a plan to leave it to the discretion of each graduate school from 2018.If the aptitude test is forgotten, each graduate school will conduct a written test to objectively judge academic ability.The Working Group also proposed in the report that the State should develop guidelines for written examinations.
Aptitude tests have been mandatory since the beginning of the law school system and are currently conducted from May to June.The aptitude test management committee, which is made up of legal professionals, asks questions about thinking ability and expressiveness, not knowledge of the law. It is a material for judgment.
However, there are voices pointing out that the examination period is early and the examination fee is 2 yen or more, which hinders the securing of examinees at each graduate school.If the system is changed and the number of graduate schools that do not conduct aptitude tests increases, it is possible that aptitude tests will be abolished.
The law school was introduced with the aim of expanding the legal profession population, but the number of graduate schools has fallen short due to the decline in term of office. The number of examinees in 2015 was 54 at 9,351 schools, which is less than a quarter of the peak.
