Abe vows to spend 2 trillion yen on human resources development

September 26, 2017

TOKYO- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that the government will compile by year-end a 2-trillion-yen policy package for promoting a revolution in human resources development.

The government plans to find financial resources for the program by reviewing how to use the revenue from the scheduled consumption tax rate hike from 8 percent to 10 percent in October 2019.

The promotion of a revolution in human resources development will be a centerpiece in the campaign promises of Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party for the Oct. 22 snap general election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament. The prime minister on Monday announced his plan to dissolve the Lower House at the start of an extraordinary Diet session on Thursday.

Under the new package, the government plans to make kindergartens and nurseries free of charge for children aged three to five. For low-income households, nurseries for children under three and advanced education such as universities will also be offered for free.

"We will substantially beef up grant-type scholarships and tuition waiver programs so that young people who are economically disadvantaged can concentrate on study," Abe said at a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, announcing the planned 2-trillion-yen package.

In order to reduce the number of children on nursery waiting list to zero, the government will help prepare nurseries for 320,000 children by the end of fiscal 2020, two years earlier than the previously targeted.

The package will also include measures to improve working conditions in the nursing sector to help increase workers and reform universities to meet demand for practical education, such as information technology.

The government has planned to use the revenue from the 2-percentage-point hike in the consumption tax rate for social security measures and fiscal reconstruction.

But Abe said that part of the revenue will be used for the promotion of the revolution in human resources development. Jiji Press