Photo/Illutration Students take private online English lessons. The photo was taken at a junior high school in Moriya, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Dec. 2, 2021. (Yoshifumi Fukuda)

To boost students’ English proficiency, public high schools in Tokyo began offering one-on-one online lessons with tutors from the Philippines who are fluent in the language.

The program covers all 191 high schools, including part-time and correspondence courses, which are funded by the Tokyo metropolitan government, according to the Tokyo metropolitan board of education.

Lessons, given via mobile devices, are tailored to students according to their English proficiency level, which is assessed through an exam.

Schools can decide in which grade their students will take the program.

Although the program was officially launched in the current academic year, some schools had already started such lessons in the 2016 academic year.

English classes at public schools occasionally feature an assistant language teacher (ALT), typically from English-speaking countries.

But the new initiative will offer a more intensive, personalized learning experience to students, the educational board said.

The 1.3 billion yen ($9.03 million) project is a collaboration with the private education sector and students are charged no additional fees.

However, the lessons are not regularly provided.

Students at 50 designated schools with special English curriculums will be offered 10 to 20 sessions a year during class hours.

The other students will have only five such occasions from their home or elsewhere.

A team member of the project stressed the benefits of private lessons, which were not possible with a single ALT in the classroom, saying one-on-one interactions really help, even if only for a short time.

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