Tuition-Free High School: Shift away from Public Schools Cannot Be Left Unresolved

Editorial

16:57 JST, April 10, 2026

The introduction of tuition-free high school has raised concerns over a shift away from public schools with the popularity of private high schools likely to rise. Public schools must boost their profile by striving for distinctive educational programs, such as by reorganizing their courses.

A system was launched in April in which the government covers up to ¥457,200 in high school tuition per student annually, regardless of whether their school is public or private. Of the 2.9 million high school students nationwide, 1.9 million attend public schools and 1 million go to private schools.

The cost to attend a private school, including facility maintenance fees, is about double that for a public school. There is undeniably something strange about providing aid for tuition, without any income restrictions, to those who choose a private school, even though they fully understand the higher costs.

And there are quite a few drawbacks. In Osaka Prefecture and Tokyo, which have made high school tuition free on their own, public school after public school has struggled to fill its enrollment quotas. This is believed to be because more people are choosing private schools since the tuition is free. As the move toward making tuition free spreads nationwide, similar trends may emerge in other places.

Public high schools help to ensure educational opportunities for students in their local areas and provide diverse learning experiences. It would be a significant loss for the nation’s educational system were public schools to continue their decline.

Public high schools offer different programs of study, such as general courses, taken by 70% of public-school students; specialized courses in fields such as engineering, commerce and agriculture; and integrated courses that combine general and specialized education. General courses — which have been criticized for having classes that are overly focused on university entrance exams, therefore lacking diversity — appear to need urgent reform.

In the near future, there is projected to be a shortage of human resources in fields related to science and mathematics, as well as of essential workers who support daily needs, while demand for clerical jobs is expected to decline as they are taken by artificial intelligence.

In February, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry compiled basic guidelines for reforming high schools. They set a goal of fostering abilities and individuality that cannot be replaced by AI, as well as call for strengthening the development of talent in the sciences, such as by reorganizing general courses.

It is also important to raise the profile of technical and agricultural high schools to allow students to acquire technical skills at an early stage. By working together with private businesses, public schools should strive to provide a practical education that can send into society graduates who are ready to contribute right away. Isn’t the new system, which could encourage a shift away from public schools, putting priority in the wrong place?

In many cases, students can only apply to a single public high school. It would be worth considering a system that will allow students to apply to multiple schools.

But in the first place, there has not been substantive discussion about what educational outcomes are expected from making high school tuition free. It is hardly surprising that the tuition-free system has been criticized as a handout aimed at winning an election.

There are also concerns that private schools will increasingly take advantage of the tuition-free system by raising their tuition. It is not enough to simply introduce the system. Efforts must be made to resolve issues by thoroughly examining the system’s effects and problems.

 (From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 10, 2026)