Key stgep toward equal education opportunity

Asami, a third year high school student, must have been deeply moved when she saw a text from her father on her cellphone, The teenager later recalled her experience in a collection of poems called "Hyakunin isshu." " A mail from my fathe/ Says I shouldn't worry about my (college) entrance test fees/ I struggle not to cry." She submitted*1 this poem to "Comtemporary Hyakunin Isshu by Students," a contest sponsored by Tokyo University, and won a prize. I introduced her piece in this column back in January.

The cost of education weighs*2 heavily on households with shrinking*3 budgets. There are kids like Asami fretting*4 about their parents' finances, and parents like Asami's father lovingly reassumming*5 them not to worry. But there must also be families forced to face the painful reality of having no money to apare*6for further education.

This summer, the Tokyo metropolitan government will reportedly start offering interest-free loans to junior and senior high school students from low-income households to enable them to attend/ juku cram school students is 1500,000 yen, which is about 60 percent of the average juku school tuition per year. For students in the final year of high school, the limit is 200,000 yen. Tese students will also be able to borrow money to pay for their entrance exam fees. The Tokyo government is said to be considering exempting*7 students who pass their entrance exams from repaying their loan for exam fees. This is the first student assistance program of its kind in the nation, and close to nearly 3,000 junior and senior high school teens are expected to apply..

Some people may criticise the government for effectively allowing public schools to dump*8 extracurricular education on juku operator. I fully agree that raising the academic performance of syudents at public school is the responsibility of government. But it is also a fact that many schools and colleges test their applicants*9 on more than just what they are supposed to have learned in the class room. That is whay 70 to 80 percent of junior high scjoo students in Tokyo attend cram schools to improve their grades and hone their entrance exam "skills."

Thus, youngstars from well-off*10 families have an edge over their less advantaged peers*11 in education and employment, while kids from poorer families are handlicapped at the very start of their adulthood. This is a sobering*12 reality. I would like to see how far Tokyo's new student assistance program will be able to level the playing field.

According to the Japan Student Services Organisation, the cost of living for an avarage university student was 720,000 yen in fiscal 2006. This was 210,000 yen less than in the peak year of fascal 2000. I can visualise*13 students scrimping*14 on entertainment expenses and food bills because of reduced financial support from their parents. It costs money just to apply for a school or college, and then more money is needed to pay tuition. I wonder if Asami, who struggled not to cry, has found some part-time work by now. (Herald Asahi, April 19-20)