Have 3 or more kids? Japan is planning to make their university tuition free
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The Japanese government will incorporate the initiative into a package called the Children’s Future Strategy Policy.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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Japan is proposing to offer free university tuition for families with three or more children, Japanese media reported on Dec 7.
The move is part of unprecedented measures to arrest its declining birth rate.
The programme is scheduled to start in fiscal year 2025, with no household income ceiling for qualification, media reports said.
The aim is to make it easier for families to have more babies and reduce the burden of their children’s educational expenses.
The government will incorporate the initiative into a package called the Children’s Future Strategy Policy.
It is expected to be decided at a Cabinet meeting by the end of December, The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported.
The free tuition initiative is not exclusive to university students, however. It is set to cover those in junior and technical colleges and other educational institutions, The Japan Times reported.
Japan currently has a programme that helps students from households with an annual income of less than 3.8 million yen (S$35,300). They either are exempted from tuition fees, pay a reduced amount or are given scholarships.
Before the latest announcement, the government had decided earlier in 2023 to expand this specific programme from fiscal year 2024. It would have covered bigger households – with three or more children – earning an annual income of up to 6 million yen.
In June, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a package of wide-ranging measures
He said it is a problem that needs to be addressed given the country’s ageing population.
At the time, Mr Kishida said he had decided to implement measures such as increasing support for higher education, The Asahi Shimbun reported. But details of those plans were not disclosed until now.
Japan’s birth rate has been steadily declining despite a series of government initiatives aimed at reversing the trend.
The number of newborns fell to 799,728 in 2022
It was the lowest rate since record-keeping started in 1899.
