The Yamanashi Prefectural Government headquarters (Mainichi/Kenji Noro)

       KOFU -- A female high school student who evacuated to Yamanashi Prefecture after the Great East Japan Earthquake applied to a prefectural university for the 2022 school recommendation entrance examination, but her application was initially rejected because she did not have a certificate of residence for the prefecture, it has been learned.

       In response to a request from Yamanashi Gov. Kotaro Nagasaki, who is in charge of the institution, the Yamanashi Prefectural University changed its policy on Oct. 5 to accept applications under certain conditions even if the applicant's residential certificate is not for the prefecture.

       According to the student's support group and others, the student evacuated to Yamanashi after the meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, while keeping her residential certificate in Fukushima Prefecture. After the university in Kofu announced the guidelines for the entrance exam in September, the student wanted to apply and since she met certain requirements such as grades, her homeroom teacher and others made inquiries to the university.

       The university reportedly said that it would not accept the application if the address on the residential certificate was still in Fukushima, because the requirements state that "the applicant or the guardian must have a Yamanashi Prefecture residential certificate."

       The prefectural high school where the student attended and the support group asked the university to change the guidelines and correct its handling of the situation with letters of inquiry and opinions, and the prefectural government also requested a review. Yet, the university refused to accept the request, stating that "it is not possible to change the guidelines once they have been announced."

       However, when the issue was revealed in some media reports on Oct. 3, the governor issued a request on Oct. 4, stating that "special consideration is expected to be required in some cases when applications are submitted, including by victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake," and strongly urged a review.

       In response to this, the university said on Oct. 5 that for the 2022 academic year, the application will be accepted as long as the applicant submits papers as a substitute for a residential certificate, including a document confirming their residence and a statement of reasons for not being able to transfer their certificate of residence. They will also consider changing the guidelines from the 2023 academic year onward.

       The governor told the press on Oct. 5, "We must not deprive children of their future and opportunities to take on challenges due to formalities in requirements," and said to the female student and her parents, "I sincerely apologize."

       (Japanese original by Keisuke Umeda, Kofu Bureau)

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