The Test of English as a Foreign Language will be required both to enter public universities and to graduate from them if the policy recommendations adopted Monday by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's education reform panel are formalized.
Introduction of the TOEFL in this manner is expected to drastically change the public English-language education system at junior high and high schools, which currently focus more on writing and grammar proficiency.
The TOEFL and other recommendations, amounting to four pages, were submitted to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the LDP president, later in the day.