The Education Ministry decided Wednesday to hold the state-run "daiken" qualification examinations for university entrance exams twice a year as of fiscal 2001, ministry officials said.

The examination is currently held once a year in August. The decision came at the urging of a group of education experts, the officials said.

The ministry also plans to cut the duration of the exam from the current four days to two, aiming to curb excessive stress and pressure, the officials said.

It plans to cut the maximum duration of each test section to 60 minutes from the current 80 minutes, they said.

The number of subjects applicants are required to cover in the exam will be cut by two to nine or 10. Currently, applicants must pass all of 11 or 12 subjects to pass the exam.

The officials said the ministry plans to hold the examination in August and November in fiscal 2001. In fiscal 2002 one exam will be held in August but the date of the other has not yet been determined.

Passing the daiken exam allows those who dropped out of high school or never entered to sit university entrance examinations in Japan.

The examination fee, however, will be increased by a few thousand yen from the current 3,000 yen to 4,000 yen to cope with increasing costs, ministry officials said.

The number of daiken takers topped a record 21,000 in fiscal 2000. The number has been rising in recent years. About 80 percent of those who passed had dropped out of high school.

The government requested in March that the daiken exam be held at least twice a year in a three-year plan to promote deregulation in various areas.