High school students rally against cutting subsidies to private schools

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High school students rally against cutting subsidies to private schools

Some 1,500 students, parents, and teachers of private high schools in Yamagata Prefecture held a rally in Yamagata City on January 24 in opposition to a prefectural government plan to cut subsidies to private schools for two consecutive years.

Yamagata Governor Saito Hiroshi in the FY 2007 draft budget proposed to reduce subsidies to private schools by 260 million yen from FY 2006.

At the call of student council presidents of two private high schools, students established an organizing committee for the rally. Teachers, parents, and school authorities have cooperated with them.

In the rally held at a square in front of the prefectural government office, students one after another stated, "It's sad to see our friends leaving school because they are unable to pay the increased tuition fees. Please don't destroy our school!"

Japanese Communist Party Prefectural Assembly member Sasayama Kazuo gave an address to encourage them.

Representatives of the students handed to a prefectural government official a petition requesting the prefectural government to stop cutting subsidies for private schools.

When the students applied to the prefectural government for permission to use the site, the government ordered them to pay 90,000 yen despite the fact that it has never issued such an order.

Not only the students but a wide range of local residents have criticized this order, but the prefectural government said that it will not review the case.
- Akahata, January 24 & 25, 2007