In the last few months, a debate over the current state of Japan’s education system and who should foot the bill for rising education costs has engaged many in the political center of Nagatacho.
With the Liberal Democratic Party-led minority government lacking the numbers to pass its budget for the upcoming fiscal year, the opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai has promised support should the government consider its proposals for free high school tuition, free day care for children 2 years old and under, and free school meals.
On Wednesday, the coalition put forward a plan to make public school tuition free, with costs of up to ¥118,800 yearly subsidized for all families regardless of income. Nippon Ishin still demanded more monetary intervention for private education, of up to ¥630,000 per year, from the upcoming fiscal year.
The party has long heralded robust public spending on education as its signature policy, framing the excessive burden of education costs on families as a primary reason behind plummeting birth rates and languishing economic growth.
“When the economy was growing, even if education costs were going up, people were sure that salaries would rise steadily and, once you graduated and started working, a bright future would await you,” said Alex Saito, a Nippon Ishin Lower House lawmaker who, before joining Nippon Ishin, was part of a small caucus called “Free Education for All."
Even though free compulsory education ends with middle school, the rate of high school attendance in Japan has reached almost 99%, with roughly one-third of students attending private high schools.
According to a report compiled by the OECD, in 2021 Japan spent 4.01% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on education, ranking 31st out of 36 countries surveyed. Less than half of this amount, at 1.47%, was destined for secondary education — the second-lowest figure among the Group of Seven nations.
Nippon Ishin estimates that making high school tuition free from the next school year, starting in April, would require additional expenses of ¥600 billion and an amendment to the government’s current budget proposal.
“The LDP’s belief that people should pay for their own education has hindered the expansion of public support for child care and education,” Saito said, arguing for free high-school tuition regardless of income.
Noting that the government’s attitude toward education has changed over time, former state minister for education Soichiro Imaeda — chairman of the LDP’s education division and a longtime advocate of subsidized education — said the parties will need to iron out existing differences over financial resources and ensure rural residents can benefit from the new system.
Over recent decades, the government has boosted its intervention in public education, first under the government of the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan, and later under the LDP.
Under the current system, households with annual incomes below ¥9.1 million ($60,000) with children attending public high schools benefit from subsidies of up to ¥118,000. Families earning below ¥5.9 million with children attending private schools can receive benefits of up to ¥396,000. Those who earn over ¥9.1 are currently not eligible for any aid.
Meanwhile, Nippon Ishin's local branch in Osaka Prefecture, Osaka Ishin no Kai, has put in place a generous subsidy program, abolishing the income threshold from the ongoing fiscal year with the goal of reaching fully subsidized tuition by fiscal 2026.
In the last few years, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has taken measures to further alleviate the burden of education on their citizens — regardless of income.
Families who live in Tokyo with students attending private high-schools can benefit from aid from the metropolitan government of up to ¥475,000 when combined with government support.
These measures help cover tuition expenses — although they are only a fraction of the total cost of attending private high schools, which also includes one-time enrollment fees or additional equipment costs. In fiscal 2022, overall annual expenses in a private high-school averaged around ¥758,881 nationwide.
However, in 2021, the burden of secondary education on households stood at 9% of overall sources of funding — only slightly above the OECD average.
While Saito said free education should be seen as a right of all children regardless of their parents’ income, the LDP has concerns that making tuition fees free for all would impact the quality of education and end up benefiting high income earners likely to spend the surplus on extracurricular activities such as cram schools.
Low income households already qualify for existing aid, so the impact of the measures under debate is seen as limited.
“We also need to think whether it’s really appropriate to abolish the income threshold,” said Imaeda. “When we design the system, we need to make sure it’s based on standards valid for the entire nation, not just for large metropolitan areas.”
After an initial rendezvous in December, the coalition and Nippon Ishin have expedited discussions in the new year, setting a target for a preliminary agreement in mid-February. Wednesday’s plan includes measures to abolish the current income threshold and expand subsidies for private education only from the next fiscal year, Nippon Ishin's Seiji Maehara revealed Thursday.
While a certain degree of consensus over the need for action on this matter was reached, the parties have yet to bridge some of the gaps.
Higher government spending on education without setting any income threshold can enhance the entire education ecosystem only under certain conditions, said Hideo Akabayashi, a professor at Keio University who specializes in education economics.
Drawing comparisons between Japan, South Korea and the United States — countries with a significant number of private high schools — Akabayashi said every attempt to reform should take into account the large gap between private and public schools.
In both the United States and South Korea, elite private high schools receive little to no funding from the government but are guaranteed complete freedom on everything ranging from the curriculum to the number of subjects in the entrance exam.
The current debate in Japan, however, assumes additional investment in private education without any strings attached or imposing any restrictions on private schools' freedom, Akabayashi said.
In turn, that would only exacerbate existing inequalities, favor private institutions and bear no positive impact on education quality as a whole, Akabayashi notes, in a landscape where public schools are wholly dependent on public support and operate under strict government rules.
”It’s not just about money,” said Akabayashi. “It should be about ensuring fair competition and giving everyone a fair shot.”
Any measure intended to foster equality should strive to rectify existing imbalances and create room for the equal opportunities society needs, Akabayashi said.
Under the new system, integrated junior and senior high schools — where students take an entrance exam for junior high but not for high school — would benefit the most from the new measures, and children from privileged socioeconomic backgrounds would have a significant advantage over their peers, impacting overall education equality.
“'Free education’ is a buzzword no one can beat," Akabayashi continued. "What we need is a delicate balance between having fair competition and support.”
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