Language skills, living area create gaps in foreign kids’ education opportunities in Japan

SANDA, Hyogo — A study group in Hyogo Prefecture is calling for equal educational opportunities for children of foreign roots as their lack of Japanese language proficiency and regional disparities are negatively affecting their high school advancement rates.

As an increasing number of foreigners work in Japan, exams in Japanese are becoming a barrier to high school entrance for children of foreign roots who have come to the country with their parents or have been brought over after their parents moved here. With a report by the group of university faculty staff in Hyogo Prefecture studying high schools’ special admission quotas for foreign students, a look into local Japanese language classes revealed issues related to the support system for high school entrance exams in the prefecture.

According to a survey by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the number of elementary, junior high and high school students in the prefecture who needed Japanese language instruction, such as those of foreign roots, had reached 1,832 as of May 1, 2023, nearly doubling from 980 in 2014. The study group found that 79.4% of junior high school students in the prefecture went on to a full-time public high school in the 2023 academic year, but when limited to students requiring Japanese language support, the percentage was far lower, at 54.7%.

In late July, this reporter visited the Sanda International Association’s “Sanda Kids International Place” (SKIP), which teaches Japanese in front of JR Sanda Station, north of Kobe. A total of 17 foreign nationals and children who grew up overseas, ranging from 5 years old to high school age, are registered at the facility. That day, the association’s staff members were helping five elementary and junior high school children one-on-one with homework and materials suited to their Japanese language levels.

One pair of twins, a boy and a girl in the third year of junior high school who had been brought over from Pakistan by their father, who has worked in Japan for many years, were tackling a quiz to choose either “shikashi” (but or however) or “dakara” (so or therefore) according to the context. The girl said in English that she had decided to come to Japan because of the high level of education and that she wants to become a doctor in the future. Both of the twins can speak English but only began learning Japanese in November 2023, when they arrived here.

The twins are hoping to advance to the same school so that they can help each other and to take advantage of the “special admission quota” system, which was introduced at some public full-time high schools by the prefectural education board in the 2016 school year for foreign students who need Japanese language instruction. The entrance exams consist of three subjects — English, math and Japanese for basic skills — and an interview. The siblings want to use the system because there are considerations for those who are not fluent in Japanese, such as kanji in the question texts accompanied with easier hiragana phonetic characters, and study support is also available after enrollment.

According to a survey by the study group, there are at least 25 out of Japan’s 47 prefectures and five ordinance-designated cities that offer such special admission quotas, including nine prefectures where all high schools have introduced the system. However, only six public high schools in Hyogo Prefecture have a special quota, and for only three foreign students at each school, totaling 18. Some areas in the prefecture, including the Tajima region in the north, have no high schools with a special admission quota.

In the neighboring prefecture of Osaka, there are only seven high schools that have the system, but unlike Hyogo, a total of 103 students were accepted in spring 2024.

SKIP has three Nepalese nationals in the second year of junior high school, but one of them came to Japan in the sixth grade of elementary school, therefore not meeting the “within three years of arrival in Japan” requirement for Hyogo Prefecture’s special quota selection. On the other hand, 10 other prefectures and four ordinance-designated cities across the country set the requirement for the special quota eligibility as “within six years of arrival” or “transferring to fourth grade of elementary school or above.” Yamanashi Prefecture’s requirement is “within seven years,” and Fukui Prefecture has “no restrictions.”

The study group stated, “There is a large educational disparity in which children cannot receive an education depending on where they live. Hyogo Prefecture should enhance the special admission quota and provide more equal opportunities to receive an education.” The group plans to submit a report incorporating its proposals, such as an expansion of the program, to the prefectural board of education and the prefectural assembly.

Their proposals for high schools’ special admission quotas for foreign students include:

— Increase the quota in the prefecture from the current 18 to 37.

— Establish new schools with a special admission quota in areas where there are currently no such schools, including the Tajima region.

— Expand the eligibility to apply through the special quota system from the current “within three years of arrival in Japan” to “within six years.”

— In the event of vacancies, hold entrance or transfer exams to fill the quota.

— Ensure that Japanese language instruction is available at every high school.

An official at the high school education division of the prefectural board of education told the Mainichi Shimbun, “We are aware of the changing social situation in which an increasing number of children are in need of Japanese language instruction, and we have made improvements such as increasing the number of schools with the quota by one this school year. We will continue to consider how to respond to this situation in the future.”

The study group will hold a forum at the city of Toyooka’s Koryu Center at 1 p.m. on Oct. 14 to discuss the situation of children in the Tajima area who need Japanese language support going on to high school. It is free to attend, and no application is required.

(Japanese original by Kayo Inada, Hanshin Bureau)