学力テスト、４月実施取りやめ　一斉休校受け―文科省

　萩生田光一文部科学相は１７日の閣議後記者会見で、新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大による小中学校の一斉休校を受けて、４月１６日に予定していた全国学力・学習状況調査（全国学力テスト）の実施を取りやめると発表した。今後については「できれば中止は避けたい」としつつ、感染状況や学校現場への影響を考慮して、改めて検討する意向を示した。
　萩生田文科相は、取りやめについて「新年度に通常の学習体制を整えるまでに時間を要する学校もあるだろうし、未指導部分を調査予定日前日までに補充することが難しいと考えられる」と説明した。（2020/03/17-11:09）

Japanese education minister Koichi Hagiuda said Tuesday that the nationwide academic achievement test scheduled for April 16 will not be held, following mass school closures in response to the new coronavirus epidemic.
   Hagiuda suggested at a press conference that the education ministry will consider whether to conduct the annual test later this year or call it off while taking into account how widely the virus is spreading and the outbreak's impacts on schools. "We want to avoid a cancellation as much as possible," he said.
   On the decision to give up holding the test on the scheduled date, Hagiuda said, "Some schools may need time to prepare normal education systems for the new school year from April, and it may be difficult for them to cover things that are not taught by the day before the originally scheduled test date."
   The test is aimed at measuring the academic skills of a total of some two million elementary school sixth-graders and junior high school third-graders, covering Japanese language and mathematics in principle. The results are published around the summer.
   The test in 2011 was canceled across the nation due to the giant earthquake and tsunami that hit mainly the Tohoku northeastern region in March that year. The 2016 test was called off across the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto, which was hit hard by a series of powerful earthquakes in April in the year, and some affected areas in nearby prefectures.