Private junior high schools aim to draw students with advanced English skills to enhance global education and increase the number of graduates admitted to prestigious universities. An official from Josai University merging Josai Junior and Senior High School in Tokyo stated that attracting students with strong English proficiency could directly result in a higher number of graduates gaining admission to top-tier universities. The school plans to introduce new admission quotas for students applying to take entrance exams based on interviews conducted in both English and Japanese. The official added that such students would also serve as positive motivation for their peers.
As per information from the Eikoh Seminar cram school chain, approximately 25 out of the 300 private junior high schools in the Tokyo metropolitan area are planning to establish additional admission quotas for students applying through English-based entrance exams in the upcoming spring. This decision follows the formal inclusion of English as a subject in elementary schools in fiscal 2020, making it more feasible for junior high schools to introduce entrance tests with a focus on English. The rising popularity of schools emphasizing global education programs is another contributing factor, along with the forthcoming obligation for Tokyo's private junior high schools to adhere to tougher entrance exam regulations for returnees from abroad, beginning in the academic year 2024.
The Association of Tokyo Private Junior and High Schools, responsible for setting entrance examination guidelines, specifies that students eligible for "returnee" entrance exams must have lived abroad for a minimum of one year and returned to Japan within three years. Toshimichi Fujita, the head of Eiko Seminar’s entrance examination information centre, highlighted that junior high school entrance exams typically cover four subjects: Japanese, arithmetic or mathematics, science, and social studies. Acceptance of students with English proficiency is limited, and Fujita advised parents to be cautious about adding English to the existing four subjects unless their children excel at or genuinely enjoy studying English, to prevent undue stress on them.
