Volunteer Japanese teachers may hinder foreign residents' learning
OKAYAMA (Kyodo) -- Around 80 percent of teachers in Japanese language classes offered by local governments are volunteers, a national survey showed Monday, sparking concerns that foreign residents enrolled may be receiving substandard education.
Although maintaining a learning environment for foreign residents, including workers and their families, is a legal "duty" of national and local governments, some areas remain without such classes due to personnel and funding shortfalls.
Limited Japanese ability makes daily life more challenging for foreign residents -- from struggling to shop or speak with doctors, to missing important disaster alerts or failing to follow local rules around tasks like garbage disposal.
According to the annual survey, about 23,000 of the roughly 29,000 teachers at 1,548 Japanese language classes across the country were volunteers in fiscal 2023, with that share having hovered around 80 to 90 percent for more than 20 years.
The number of foreigners attending in-person classes hit a record high of nearly 100,000 in fiscal 2019, but it temporarily declined until fiscal 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It then began trending upward again, reaching about 88,000 in fiscal 2023.
The central government began supporting municipalities in reducing their reliance on volunteers after a law promoting Japanese language education took effect in 2019. Local officials, however, often complain the process of applying for funding is too burdensome.
While the number of local governments that do not provide Japanese language classes, known as "blank areas," decreased every year between fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2023, every prefecture except Hyogo in western Japan still has at least one.
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Volunteer Japanese teachers may hinder foreign residents' learning
OKAYAMA (Kyodo) -- Around 80 percent of teachers in Japanese language classes offered by local governments are volunteers, a national survey showed Monday, sparking concerns that foreign residents enrolled may be receiving substandard education. Although maintaining a learning environment for foreign residents, including workers and their families, is a legal "duty" of national and local governments, some areas remain without such classes due to personnel and funding shortfalls. Limited Japanese ability makes daily life more challenging for foreign residents -- from struggling to shop or speak with doctors, to missing important disaster alerts or failing to follow local rules around tasks like garbage disposal. According to the annual survey, about 23,000 of the roughly 29,000 teachers at 1,548 Japanese language classes across the country were volunteers in fiscal 2023, with that share having hovered around 80 to 90 percent for more than 20 years. The number of foreigners attending in-person classes hit a record high of nearly 100,000 in fiscal 2019, but it temporarily declined until fiscal 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It then began trending upward again, reaching about 88,000 in fiscal 2023. The central government began supporting municipalities in reducing their reliance on volunteers after a law promoting Japanese language education took effect in 2019. Local officials, however, often complain the process of applying for funding is too burdensome. While the number of local governments that do not provide Japanese language classes, known as "blank areas," decreased every year between fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2023, every prefecture except Hyogo in western Japan still has at least one.
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