April 28, 2021

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Kira Yoshiko, along with other political party lawmakers, attended a forum and discussed with college students the need for Japan to have tuition-free higher education.

The forum was hosted by the student advocacy group "project for free higher education (FREE)".

Group coordinator and Chuo University student Murata Kurumi said that amid the coronavirus crisis, more and more students are experiencing hardships financially and emotionally, and some began thinking seriously about giving up continuing with their studies. She expressed her determination to work hard to change the society to one where economic factors will not prevent students from continuing with their studies.

Participating students expressed opinions such as these: “I have to work multiple part-time jobs due to heavy tuition burdens,” and “Requirements for the current loan-type scholarship program are too strict.”

JCP Kira said that she will work to fundamentally improve the loan-type “scholarship” program and to change the situation where one in two college students has to use some kind of student loan program. She pointed out that the government should increase its education budget drastically and make higher education free, and said, “Together with students and political opposition parties, I’ll work hard to achieve this.”

Past related articles:
> More than half of graduate students suffer income loss amid coronavirus crisis [August 12, 2020]
> Students’ economic and learning situations adversely affected by COVID-19 [April 22, 2020]