Students urge education ministry to reduce their burden of tuitions

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Students urge education ministry to reduce their burden of tuitions

A group of students and union activists calling for improving the scholarship system on October 27 urged the Education Ministry to reduce student’s burden of tuitions at high schools, universities, and colleges through various measures including establishing a scholarship system that does not require repayment.

Regarding the issue that the Japanese government has suspended the provision in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that states that free education should be progressively introduced into secondary and higher education, the group requested the ministry withdraw its suspension of this provision.

The group demanded that the ministry immediately cancel its plan to intensify the effort to collect scholarship repayments by using credit agency information files.

Criticizing the ministry for forcing scholarship users to submit a document that they agree to have their names put on a “blacklist” if they are in arrears on scholarship repayments for three months, the group requested that the ministry conduct a survey to find out if former students gave up their pursuit of higher education due to the heavy burden of scholarship repayments.

- Akahata, October 28, 2009