Okinawa Scores Below National Average in All Subjects on Academic Test

NAHA, Aug 04 (News On Japan) - Japan's Ministry of Education has released the results of the 2025 National Academic Achievement Test, revealing that elementary and junior high school students in Okinawa scored below the national average in all subjects.

The test, conducted in April 2025, targeted sixth-grade elementary students and third-year junior high school students, with approximately 29,000 students participating across Okinawa.

In all three tested subjects—Japanese, arithmetic or mathematics, and science—students at both the elementary and junior high levels failed to meet the national average. Notably, junior high school students scored just 38% in mathematics, falling 10.3 points below the national average.

In science, a new digital testing method was introduced at the junior high school level. While Okinawa's absolute scores remained low, performance was deemed on par with the national average when evaluated under the new assessment criteria.

A separate survey on learning attitudes showed that only 27.8% of elementary students and 25% of junior high school students said they "think and tackle class assignments on their own," suggesting low levels of academic engagement.

Okinawa's Superintendent of Education, Mitsuru Hanmine, commented, "We will work to better understand and analyze the issues facing our students and support efforts to improve instruction through training for faculty and staff."

Source: 沖縄ニュースOTV

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