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On March 16, debate on the so-called legislation for making high school education free was held in the plenary session of the House of Representatives, and DPJ Diet member Kentaro Motomura made a speech in favour of the legislation.
Motomura said that the legislation aimed to reduce the economic burden related to education, and to provide equal education opportunities. He explained that tuition fees would not be charged in state high schools, and that students attending private high schools and the like would be able to receive an equivalent amount of scholarship funding, thus enabling the disparities between state and private schooling to be corrected.
In particular, with regard to the provision of scholarship funding, Motomura said that this would be available not simply for private high schools but also to the senior phase of (combined) junior high schools, the high school portion of specially supported schools, technical high schools and a portion of specialized schools would also be covered by this. He stressed that this would widen the choices available to those graduating from junior high school.
Motomura emphasized that “nation-building means people-building”, and explained that in the Committee on Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Kawabata had stated, “Increasing the latent abilities of individuals and nurturing a rich and diverse store of human resources capable of working in various sectors, is the basis of our nation’s growth and development.” He said that Finland had succeeded in recovering from 20% unemployment by making education free from elementary school up to university, and said “It goes without saying that ensuring investment in education is made and enhancing education is indispensable in a resource-poor nation such as ours.”
At the same time, Motomura expressed his regret that the amount spent by Japan on education as a proportion of GDP is one of the lowest among the developed nations, and revealed that in addition to Finland, many countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany had implemented free education.
Following the debate, voting took place, and the legislation was approved by a majority. The legislation was supported by the three ruling coalition parties, New Komeito and the Communist Party.
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