The new tuition waiver at public high schools is making some people less willing to support high school students from single-parent households who are forced to give up further education amid financial difficulties.
"It was reported last fall that students collecting street donations for one-parent students were told by passersby that the donations would not be needed anymore under the tuition-free program," said Toshihiko Kudo, an executive board member of Ashinaga, a Tokyo-based nonprofit organization.
Ashinaga, the Japanese title of the American novel "Daddy Long Legs," provides financial assistance to orphans and the children of single-parent households.