OSAKA -- The financially stricken Osaka Prefectural Government will submit a bill to the prefectural assembly to raise the entrance fee to prefecture-run high schools more than eightfold from the current 5,500 yen to 45,000 yen, officials said Friday.
The bill is expected to be submitted to a prefectural assembly session starting Dec. 15. If approved, the fee hikes would be applied in April.
Originally, the prefecture planned to raise the fee 10-fold amid the financial crisis. However, it later dropped the plan after meeting fierce protests from citizens who learned about the plan from the prefectural government's comprehensive measures unveiled in October to tackle the financial woes.
It remains to be seen whether the new plan will be approved by the assembly, because the new fee seems to be still exorbitant, considering that entrance fees to prefecture-run high schools are set around 5,500 yen in most prefectures.
A step to exempt low-income households from some portions of the entrance fee will also be discussed by the assembly, the officials said. The prefectural government expects a revenue increase worth 1.66 billion yen through the new plan, they said.