Nipponica

According to the results for the 2023 school year, an average of 50.6% of third-year high school students achieved the standards, led by Toyama Prefecture where 61.4% of students hit the mark. In contrast, Miyagi with 39.6% was the only prefecture where this was under 40%. The national average for the ratio of third-year junior high school students meeting the standards was 50%, led by the city of Saitama with 88.4% followed by Fukui Prefecture with 83.8%. The lowest of these figures was claimed by Saga Prefecture with 30.1%.

Not exactly breaking news that English education is not exactly a priority for Japanese students, but there was a nugget of new info (for me, at least).

The national standards aim for students to achieve a level equivalent to at least the A1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), an international index of language proficiency, by the end of junior high school, corresponding to Grade 3 of Japan's own English test, Eiken, and A2 level (Grade Pre-2 of Eiken) by the end of high school.

Since I am not in the JET/ALT world, I never realized that there was a specific CEFR level that students are expected to meet. Obviously makes sense, but A2 is still nothing compared to the JLPT 2 (B1-B2) level that is expected of foreigners at the minimum for Japanese level in the workplace.