Entrance exams to offer flu relief

Public universities have agreed to offer relief measures for applicants if the swine flu forces them to miss entrance exams for the next academic year.

The Japan Association of National Universities made the decision at a general assembly meeting Monday in Hakodate, Hokkaido.

Flu cases, including infections of the new H1N1 virus, have been spreading steadily nationwide. The death toll linked to the strain rose to 35 in Japan as of Monday night.

The universities agreed that whether to hold makeup exams, which will take place a week after the second test, is up to each university. This means there will be cases in which final pass-or-fail results will be determined by the first test only, which is the standardized primary exam known as the University Entrance Center Examination.

Relief measures for exam-takers have been implemented by public universities on several occasions in the past, including in 1995 after a major earthquake hit parts of western Japan and in 2008 when there was heavy snow. All of these cases involved a limited number of universities.