The education ministry is pumping money into selected high schools nationwide to help nurture certain vocational and international skills, in line with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's growth strategy announced last June, according to a ministry official.

The ministry recently designated 10 schools for its Super Professional High School project, while another 56 make up the Super Global High School program for the 2014 academic year beginning this month.

Each of the 10 Super Professional high schools will get about ¥8 million this year, while the 56 others will receive up to ¥16 million each to pursue their own study projects, according to ministry officials.