Japan Press Weekly

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2015 September 16 - 29 [WELFARE]

JCP Tamura calls for improvement in welfare benefit system in order to encourage poor students to go to university

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Tamura Tomoko on September 8 at a meeting of the Education Committee said that high school students of households on welfare should have a choice to use their scholarships to cover the cost related to admission to universities.

Under the current system, even if students in welfare recipient households are awarded scholarships, they cannot use the money freely, except for specific purposes, such as paying for the costs of school trips and after-school private classes.

Tamura argued that those students should be allowed to use their grants to cover costs for entrance examination fees and admission fees for universities. She called for a revision in the current guidelines of the welfare system in this regard.

Education Minister Shimomura Hakubun in reply said that it is essential to ensure that pubic financial support for students in economic need is used as effectively as possible. He added that the government will work to improve assistance to needy students.