TOKYO REPORT: Japan to Boost Financial Aid for Public High School Reform

Tokyo, April 13 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s education ministry plans to significantly expand financial support for prefectural governments to help make public high schools more attractive to students. The initiative comes after private high school tuition has effectively been made free from fiscal 2026, fueling concerns over a fall in applications to public high schools, which are established and operated by prefectural governments. In response, the central government has set up a fund of about 300 billion yen under the supplementary budget for fiscal 2025, which ended in March. It also plans to launch a new grant program from fiscal 2027 onward. Grants to Top 100 B. Yen? In February this year, the education ministry formulated a basic policy on high school education reform, outlining the future direction for public high schools. The policy emphasizes nurturing students with strong digital skills in science and mathematics, areas in which demand from industry is growing. It also calls for strengthening the role of specialized high schools, including agricultural and technical schools. Prefectural governments will draw up implementation plans in line with the basic policy, and the central government will provide grants to support them. The funding is expected to be used for projects such as upgrading facilities at specialized high schools to support the study of advanced digital technologies and improving laboratory environments at general high schools. Regarding the scale of the grant program, the association for realizing high school education reform, a private-sector group, proposed in October 2025 that the government secure more than 100 billion yen annually. The group is headed by Yu Iwamoto, a member of the Central Council for Education, an advisory panel to the education minister. According to sources familiar with the issue, the education ministry is expected to seek a budget of roughly the same scale, working in coordination with the group. At the same time, local governments are closely watching how free tuition at private high schools could affect efforts to consolidate or close public high schools. The ministry’s basic policy includes a goal of “optimizing the school network in terms of location and scale.” For now, however, the central government is noncommittal about the issue, at least officially. Education minister Yohei Matsumoto has said that “each prefectural government should make an appropriate decision by considering local conditions and other factors.” Consolidating or closing schools often triggers strong opposition from local communities. Even so, a senior education ministry official said, “It’s difficult to say this explicitly, but the basic policy conveys the message: ‘Please move steadily ahead with consolidation and closures.'” Quality Concerns over Correspondence Courses Under the government’s latest tuition-free private high school program, students enrolled not only in full-time courses but also in correspondence courses are eligible for support payments of up to 337,000 yen annually, regardless of household income. Correspondence high schools are intended to provide an alternative for students who are unable to attend classes every day, including those dealing with chronic absenteeism. Some schools, however, have come under scrutiny over allegations of inappropriate management. Particular concern surrounds wide-area correspondence high schools, which recruit students from three or more prefectures. Such schools typically offer online classes and use the facilities of other schools to provide face-to-face instruction and guidance on assignments. In some cases, they have failed to provide the number of instructional sessions required under national curriculum guidelines, while some staff members have been found to lack the necessary teaching licenses. With student enrollment expected to rise under the tuition-free program, the education ministry plans to urge such schools to disclose relevant management information and aims to strengthen inspections conducted by prefectural governments. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]