June 15, 2023

Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member Oyama Tomoko on June 13 at a plenary meeting of the metropolitan assembly demanded that the metropolitan government provide students with free school lunches and reduce the financial burden of tertiary education.

Oyama pointed out that amid rising public demand, 22 of the 62 municipalities in Tokyo have introduced free school lunch programs in their public elementary and junior high schools. She said that the Tokyo government should provide financial support not only for these municipalities but also other municipalities in order to enable them to launch such programs. She also demanded the introduction of the program in metropolitan schools.

Director General of the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education Hama Kayoko said that it is the national government’s responsibility to secure funds for the introduction of a free school lunch program.

Oyama took up the issue of the financial burden of higher education costs. She referred to the metropolitan government decision to introduce a tuition fee exemption program at Tokyo Metropolitan University. Under the program, students of families living in Tokyo whose annual income is less than 9.1 million yen will be exempt from paying tuition fees. Welcoming this decision, the JCP lawmaker stressed that the metropolitan government should expand the scope of students eligible for the program to include undergraduates and postgraduates regardless of where they come from.

In addition, Oyama demanded that the metropolitan government abolish admission fees for Tokyo Metropolitan University and make Tokyo-run nursing colleges tuition-free. Regarding the latter, the JCP metropolitan assemblypersons’ group submitted an ordinance bill to the assembly.