Who the school caters for:
Those who graduate from Junior high school in their home countries, or those who are over 15 years old cannot basically enter public junior high school in Japan.
“The Multicultural Free School” was established to support children from other countries who wish to go to Japanese high school with Japanese language study. We can offer children from foreign countries opportunities and places to study. We provide instruction in Japanese and other school subjects as well as highly detailed assistance, thereby providing opportunities for those children to realize their full potential in Japanese society.
The school offers:
Japanese Class
Japanese lessons targeted specially for children of junior high school age. Reading & writing instruction as well as help enhancing comprehensive and thinking ability for entrance exam to high school. Not just for a Japanese language study but Japanese education with an educational perspective.
School Subject Class
Providing school subjects (English and math) which are necessary for entrance examination to high school. This class will start from fall term.
Study Support Program
The purpose of the program is to assist non-Japanese children in learning Japanese language and school work. It provides non-Japanese children with an environment in which they feel comfortable with their ethnic identity.
Class Schedule
every Saturday from 14：00 to16：00/from 16：30 to 20:30
*Besides those days, we could arrange schedule if it needs.
Organizer: The Multicultural Center Tokyo which organizes and implements programs for people with multicultural backgrounds, mainly designed for children and women.
We strive for a multicultural society where differences in nationalities, languages, and cultures are respected, so that we can share in a diverse and enriched community.
NPO Multicultural Center Tokyo
Location: 1-5-8 Nishi-Nippori, Arakawa-ku, Tokyo Japan 〒116-0013
Phone & Fax：03-3801-7127 e-mail：tokyo@tabunka.jp
Tuesday～Saturday 12：00～19：00
Consultation Service
The center also provides consultation service. The service can be offered by the phone or in person. We work together with clients to resolve problems.
More information about the Multicultural Free School in the news:
Multicultural school opens for international students (June 20, 2005, Daily Yomiuri)
By Chie Masuda
TOKYO Getting into high school as well as adapting to the new school life in Japan can be difficult enough for Japanese students, but even more so for students from other countries.
It’s also tough for the children of international marriages, especially between Japanese and Chinese, Korean and Philippine spouses. Some of those couples have children from previous marriages, and not being able to speak much Japanese, these kids have all sorts of problems getting into Japanese high schools.
To help such children, a nonprofit group promoting multiculturalism, the Center for Multicultural Information & Assistance, opened a school in Nishinippori, Tokyo, on June 1, to tutor children who have a limited command of the Japanese language due to being raised by one or both non-Japanese parents.
“Currently, there is no school to help international students to get into high school in Japan,” says Koichiro Sekiguchi, the head director at Multicultural Free School. “Japanese language schools are helping mostly students who have already graduated from high schools. Those programs are not sufficient for 15 to 16-year-old students.”
Multicultural Free School is aimed at that age group. Because of the difference in school systems, and because Japanese public high schools do not allow students to transfer during semesters, those students have to wait until April to start their next school year. In the interim, Multicultural Free School helps them improve their language skills.
One 16-year-old Chinese student who is now studying at Multicultural Free School to prepare for the entrance exam to a Japanese high school next spring, said she came to Japan last July after graduating from middle school in China. She first went to a Japanese language school, where the classes mainly served as prep for Japanese colleges or universities. After failing to get into a high school for the 2005 year, she contacted Multicultural Free School.
Classes, which are taught four days a week at an apartment from 1-4 p.m., focus on students’ writing, speaking and reading skills in Japanese. The tuition is 30,000 yen a month. There are three teachers so far, including two Japanese and one Chinese who used to teach at a public school in Tokyo.
Multicultural Free School is looking to expand the program to include night classes from July for students who are already in Japanese schools, but have problems adapting.
For more information, visit the school’s website at http://tabunka.jp/tokyo/
:::
International kids to get free school The Japan Times: May 29, 2005
A nonprofit group promoting multiculturalism will open a free school next month in Arakawa Ward, Tokyo, for foreign children or Japanese children who have a limited command of the Japanese language due to being raised by non-Japanese parents, group officials said Saturday.
The Center for Multicultural Information & Assistance took the step to help children aged 16 or older who do not qualify for the free public education and those who have trouble adjusting to Japanese schools after finishing junior high school overseas, they said.
Because of their poor command of Japanese, these children often end up failing high school entrance exams or even becoming socially withdrawn, the officials said.
“We want the children to maximize their talents to triumph in their lives, even though it seems difficult now,” said Wang Huijin, the group’s representative.
EDUCATION IN JAPAN COMMUNITY Blog 