Officials from the University of Perpetual Help System Delta and ECC Foreign Language Institute during the launch and contract signing of the Japanese Blended Learning Program (from left to right): Toshimi Izumi, ECC General Manager of New Product Development, Anthony Jose M. Tamayo, UPHSD President, Dr. Daisy M. Tamayo, UPHSD Co-Founder/Chairman/Chief Executive Board, Masahiro Hanafusa, ECC Executive Vice President, Noriaki Okamura, ECC General Manager of New Product Development and Dr. Alfonso Loreto, School Director of UPHSD Las Pinas Campus.
ECC, a life-long learning institution has teamed up with the University of Perpetual Help (UPH) to provide a Japanese language program in the Philippines.
In recent years, interest in Japanese language studies has risen in many Asian countries, as is evident by the annual increases in test-takers registering for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). Philippines saw a record 14,062 people register for the test in 2017 (a 21% increase over the previous year), many of whom are studying Japanese in the hopes of working in Japan or getting promoted within a Japanese company.
The educational contents provided by ECC, known as the “UPHSD-ECC Nihongo Program,” involve a combination of e-learning materials, mobile educational tools, and classes that employ ECC’ s Japanese educational method. By offering this as one of UPH’ s extension programs, it is hoped that students, especially those who wish to work or study in Japan, or find jobs with Japanese companies in the Philippines, will be able to further their Japanese language abilities effectively within a short amount of time. To make the e-learning program even more effective, a once-a-week class in English by a Filipino teacher of Japanese is included, giving students a chance to fully internalize what they have learned. This style of program can be offered at a lower cost compared to conventional Japanese-taught courses.
As a result of a larger number of Japanese companies expanding their operations into other countries, as well as a decrease in labor forces in Japan leading domestic companies to hire more foreign workers.