Officials from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, have met with Nippon Ishin at the Diet to discuss a free tuition program for high school students. The ruling parties have proposed a plan to Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) to remove income restrictions on government subsidies for high school tuition, as the minority coalition seeks Ishin’s backing for its budget bill.
The proposal, presented on Feb. 5 by the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito, would provide free education for all students attending public high schools.
However, Ishin continues to push for its key policy of a full tuition waiver for all high schools, including private ones, starting in April.
Currently, the government provides financial assistance of up to 118,800 yen ($780) annually for students from households earning less than 9.1 million yen per year.
This amount covers the standard annual tuition of a public high school.
For students attending private high schools, the amount increases to 396,000 yen if they are from households with an annual income below 5.9 million yen.
The new proposal would abolish the 9.1 million yen income threshold starting this April, providing free tuition for all public high school students regardless of their household's income.
However, this falls short of providing universal free tuition to students attending private high schools, as Ishin demands.
The LDP and Komeito suggest they will continue negotiating the issue with Ishin, with plans to roll out additional subsidies in April next year.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has also expressed a willingness to advance the debate.
“We need to narrow the points of discussion, I will play my part as the president of the LDP”, Ishiba said on .
Some local governments have already implemented their tuition support programs in addition to the state subsidy.
For instance, students attending private high schools in Tokyo can receive up to 484,000 yen from the Tokyo metropolitan government, while private school students in Osaka Prefecture are offered up to 630,000 yen.
Although these programs assist, they create disparities in access to tuition benefits depending on the region.
Ishin estimates that 600 billion yen in funding would be required to implement a nationwide, universally free tuition program similar to the one in Osaka Prefecture, which is the party’s political stronghold.
