Japan to Mull Hiking Private High School Tuition Aid to 457,000 Yen

   Tokyo, Feb. 17 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Monday that the government will consider raising the upper limit on public aid for households with children attending private high schools to around 457,000 yen per year in fiscal 2026 from the current 396,000 yen.
   Ishiba's remark came as opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) is seeking to make education free of charge as a condition for supporting the government's fiscal 2025 budget bill.
   "It's necessary to conduct a detailed fact-finding survey based on the national average tuition (for private schools) of 457,000 yen," Ishiba said at a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, in response to a question by Nippon Ishin co-leader Seiji Maehara.
   In the evening, senior officials of Nippon Ishin discussed its response to the prime minister's remark, but did not reach a conclusion.
   "We appreciate that (the prime minister) mentioned the specific figure of 457,000 yen," Nippon Ishin leader Hirofumi Yoshimura, also governor of Osaka Prefecture, told reporters later in the day. But he added, "The current information is not enough to decide whether to support the budget bill."

(2025/02/17-21:47)

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