Age Issue

Kaoru Sato is outraged.

She says she deserves to be admitted to Gunma University's medical school and that she has the entrance scores to prove it. She scored 561.5-10.3 points higher than the average passing score of 551.2.

Having done well on her written tests, she was nevertheless dumped in the screening process that also involved writing an essay and an interview.

Why? Sato thinks it's because of her age. She is 55.

Sato is now suing the university for discrimination, specifically "unjust treatment; disqualifying a candidate based on age." Sato filed the suit last month to request she be admitted. The university has declined to comment on the suit. An official would only say, "Things will be made clear at court." But the official did say: "(Sato) was not accepted because there was an exceptional flaw in her interview. ... Age was definitely not the reason."

But that's not what another official at the university told her, confidentially. Sato, a homemaker who had studied three years to pass the entrance exam, was crushed when she was notified that she wouldn't be accepted. When she first asked the university for an explanation, an official gave her a standard reply: "There is always a possibility that applicants are not accepted, if found extremely lacking in any of the screening processes, including the standardized University Testing Center Examination scores, individual written exams, essays, interviews or school records."

The official said that in Sato's case, "The decision was a comprehensive one." Sato asked whether it was her interview-not included in the revealed test scores-that was the reason for her non-admission. She was told that nothing could be revealed pertaining to candidate interviews. Sato persisted. According to Sato, she managed to draw out an explanation from the official in charge, who told her it was "only a private view." She was told: "National universities are tasked with the responsibility to educate, train and nurture doctors, who will be able to serve the community. The process takes many long years.

In your case, when we consider your age at graduation, there remains the question as to whether you would be able to serve the community, realistically speaking." In a roundabout way, it says the same thing on the university's Web site: "There is no age limit. Having said that, candidates should be well aware that the medical student is required to go through six years of course work, and then 10 years of ongoing training, including two years of clinical training as an intern, before establishing oneself as an active member of the medical community."

Age discrimination is not uncommon in Japan. Age limits can be found in various settings-when applying for jobs in both the government and private sectors, and for college entrance exams. There are also age limits for mandatory retirement and so on.

siok koon