The government's plan to improve the English proficiency of students has yielded dismal results, according to the education ministry's latest survey of junior high and high school students.
The fiscal 2016 survey on English education, released Wednesday, showed that 36.1 percent of Japan's third-year junior high school students had achieved an English proficiency equivalent to Grade 3 or higher on the Eiken Test in Practical English Proficiency.
That's down 0.5 point from the previous year and well below the government's goal of 50 percent.