Gov't eyes opening 50 Japanese language classes for Brazilians+

TOKYO, April 26 Kyodo - The education ministry has decided to set up about 50 Japanese language classes across the nation in an attempt to assist Japanese Brazilians who find it difficult to enroll their children in foreign schools due to having financial difficulties amid the economic downturn, ministry officials said Sunday.

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry hope that
Japanese language lessons will make it easier for Japanese Brazilian children
to transfer to Japanese public schools.
In the classes, children will be able to learn Japanese and other subjects such
as mathematics free of charge, with support from Brazilian staff, the officials
said, adding that the classes are expected to be held in public places such as
local community halls.
Many Japanese Brazilians in Japan face hardship as they are temporary workers
and some have lost their jobs amid the recession.
As a result, many Japanese Brazilian children have dropped out of foreign
schools taught in the Portuguese language because their families could not pay
the monthly tuition of 30,000 to 40,000 yen.
The ministry estimates at least 1,000 Japanese Brazilian children have remained
at home, without transferring to Japanese public schools, because of the
language problem.
The envisioned Japanese classes will target Japanese Brazilian children in the
elementary school to senior high school levels.
The ministry plans to implement the measure as an emergency step over three
years until the economy picks up and has earmarked about 3.7 billion yen to
finance the project in a supplementary budget plan for the current fiscal year
ending next March.