EngRish Education reform?

[Taro Toporific]

Is Japan ready to start talking?... prospects for new English language education targets
"...Japanese leaders can't communicate in English, it gives a sense of separation from the rest of the world - a sense not without attraction for both the leaders and Japanese people in general."
Though encouraged by the ministry's plans, Professor Bamford says they lack detail. "They have set out skill-based goals for each school level, but they failed to match those goals with realistic plans for achieving them," he said. "The goals are largely lip service that will cause little immediate change."

---TEFL news,Guardian Weekly, Thursday January 30, 2003