Local governments want central government to increase aid for class size reduction

More than half of Japan's local assemblies are seeking help from the central government to reduce class size in public schools to a maximum of 30 pupils.

According to the All Japan Teachers and Staff Union (Zenkyo), 1,658 of 3,270 local assemblies have adopted resolutions by February 28 requesting that the central government give them more money to establish a smaller class size so that children can receive adequate education.

Based on the standard that a class contains 40 students, the government pay a half of teachers' salaries. In the case of small classes, the government subsidy is too small to maintain the needed number of teachers.

Local governments one after another have put smaller sized or 30 pupil classes into practice in response to public opinion, but in many cases, the schools face difficulties in placing teachers for needed subjects due to the limited budget.

Yoshida Hiroshi of Zenkyo says that the government should increase financial support as soon as possible for the local governments that have already started a smaller class size reform. (end)