Tokyo Aims to Increase Enrollment at Metropolitan High Schools with New English Programs

By Mari Kashiwagi / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

16:58 JST, December 3, 2025

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education began full-fledged discussions to increase the number of metropolitan high schools that offer International Baccalaureate (IB) programs.

The discussions are the result of an expert panel debating how to improve the appeal of metropolitan high schools. By offering such programs, the board of education aims to foster people who can work internationally.

It also aims to increase the competitiveness of metropolitan high schools. There are concerns that there will be fewer students enrolling in metropolitan high schools, partly due to the declining birth rate and the central government’s policy of making high schools, including private high schools, essentially free.

There are two types of IB programs being offered at high schools in Japan. One is an English Diploma Programme, a course in which most of the classes are taught in English, and a Japanese Diploma Programme, a course in which students can take some subjects in Japanese.

The IB is an educational program for children aged 3-19 that is certified by a Switzerland-based organization.

In the IB Diploma Programme, if a high school student receives a certain grade on their final exams, they can obtain certificates that are recognized by many universities for enrollement worldwide.

The program aims to have students acquire various skills, including the ability to find solutions through interactive and group learning.

As students in the English program need to have a very high level of English proficiency, those born and raised in Japan are expected to face a very high hurdle.

According to the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry and some high schools, of the public high schools in Japan, excluding state-run schools, Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward and two prefectural high schools in Hiroshima Prefecture offer the English Diploma Programme.

A total of 12 prefectural and city-run high schools in 12 prefectures offer the Japanese Diploma Programme.

Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School began offering its English Diploma Programme in 2016.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education plans to introduce the Japanese Diploma Programme to other metropolitan high schools so that more students will be able to receive an education under the IB program, allowing them to apply to universities overseas after acquiring the necessary English skills.

The board of education is also considering introducing a course on international finance at high schools.

From fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2025, there has been a decline in the number of students taking entrance exams for regular full-time courses at metropolitan high schools.

For technical and commercial courses at metropolitan high schools, there are fewer students taking the entrance exams than enrollment capacity.

It is believed that this is partly due to more students enrolling in private high schools.

As a result, the board of education established a panel this fiscal year, chaired by Prof. Eiji Kikuchi of Waseda University, to discuss how to improve the attractiveness of metropolitan high schools.

The panel has been discussing how to make metropolitan high schools more appealing to both students and parents.

Some members said that it is necessary to lean more into the IB program and offer more opportunities for students to study finance from an international perspective.