Tokyo, May 17 (Jiji Press)–Third-year students in public junior and senior high schools in Japan failed to meet government-set targets for English skills in fiscal 2022, an education ministry survey showed Wednesday.   The proportion of third-year junior high school students with English skills equivalent to Grade 3 or higher in the country’s Eiken proficiency tests came to 49.2 pct….Read more

Junior high school third graders in Japan took the English-speaking test online for the first time in the education ministry’s national achievement test held across the country Tuesday.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will conduct the first survey of English language skills in its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which measures 15-year-olds’ academic achievement across the globe, in 2025.   The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) said it will not participate in the survey. It said it made the decision….Read more

Tokyo, April 14 (Jiji Press)–Third-year students at junior high schools in Japan will take online for the first time the speaking part of the English examination in a national achievement test set for Tuesday, the education ministry said Friday.   Junior high third-graders will sit the English exam for the first time in four years. An information terminal distributed to….Read more

A survey by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) found on March 31 that private-sector English tests were used for 24.3% of general entrance exams conducted by national, public, and private universities for admission decisions in fiscal 2022. The figure is up 7.9 percentage points from the 16.4% recorded in the previous survey conducted in fiscal….Read more

Tokyo, March 8 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese government panel Wednesday released a target of increasing junior high school students reaching an English proficiency level equivalent to grade 3 in the Eiken tests or higher at graduation.     The target of boosting the share of such students to at least 60 pct over five years was set out by the Central Council….Read more

Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs), foreign nationals teaching English at elementary and junior and senior high schools, are contributing to the nurturing of globally minded students in local communities. Fukui Prefecture launched a voluntary English education research organization more than six decades ago and has been trying to improve students’ English skills with ALTs. The prefecture aims to work with local….Read more

According to estimates by the Shutoken Moshi Center, which provides information about entrance examinations, 51,100 students sat for entrance examinations of private and public junior high schools in the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan area in 2022. The number is increasing ever year and the percentage of examinees among six graders stood at 17.3%.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education has decided to introduce an English-speaking test it has adopted for third year students of public junior high schools in Tokyo to first and second year students as well starting next fiscal year. The board of education will earmark roughly 3.5 billion yen as related costs in the initial budget for the next fiscal….Read more

TACHIKAWA, Tokyo — A facility where children can enjoy learning English while simulating the experience of being in a foreign country has opened in this suburban city in western Tokyo.   The facility, called Tokyo Global Gateway (TGG) Green Springs, opened in the Green Springs shopping complex in the Tachikawa’s Midoricho district on Jan. 16. It is the second TGG….Read more