About 40 percent of junior high and high school students across the nation had reached recommended levels for their English proficiency in the 2018 academic year, well below the government target of 50 percent, according to the education ministry.
The ministry said that 42.6 percent of third-year junior high school students achieved levels equivalent to Grade 3 or higher on the Test in Practical English Proficiency, known as Eiken, while 40.2 percent of third-year high school students achieved levels equivalent to Grade Pre-2 on the test or higher.
Neither age group's results reached the government-set goal of at least 50 percent at those levels.
The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry announced on April 16 the results of research into the implementation of English education in the 2018 academic year. Conducted in December last year, the research examined the proficiency levels of students mainly in public junior high and high schools.
Among third-year junior high school students, 42.6 percent had abilities equivalent to Grade 3 on the Eiken test or higher, the level recommended for junior high school graduates. The figure was 1.9 percentage points higher than in the previous academic year.
Among the students, 23.9 percent had been certified through private-sector English proficiency tests, up 1.9 percentage points. About 18.7 percent of the students, almost unchanged from the previous academic year, were recognized by school teachers as having this level of English proficiency.
Among third-year high school students, 40.2 percent had achieved levels equivalent to Grade Pre-2 on the Eiken test or higher, up 0.9 percentage points from the previous academic year. This grade is the middle level for high school students.
Of the third-year students, 20.5 percent, for an increase of 5.5 percentage points, had been certified through private English tests, and 19.7 percent, a drop of 4.6 percentage points, had been recognized as having the same level of proficiency by teachers.
The figures indicate that an increasing number of high school students took tests through private-sector organizations, as those taking the Common Test for University Admissions will need to take English proficiency tests via private-sector entities.
The previous government-set goal was for at least 50 percent of third-year students at both junior high and high schools to achieve the target proficiency levels by the end of fiscal 2017. However, that goal has never been achieved since the research started in fiscal 2013, and the government has postponed the target year to fiscal 2022.
Divided by prefectures and government-designated major cities, the city of Saitama marked the highest achievement rate among junior high school students at 75.5 percent, followed by Fukui Prefecture at 61.2 percent and Yokohama at 55.9 percent.
Rates of 50 percent or higher among high school students were achieved by Fukui Prefecture at 56.0 percent, Toyama Prefecture at 54.8 percent and Akita Prefecture at 53.3 percent.
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