Japan to raise monthly pay of nursery teachers by 3,000 yen

December 5, 2017

Tokyo- The Japanese government plans to raise the monthly pay of nursery teachers by some 3,000 yen from April 2019, in a bid to secure personnel to address shortages of nursery schools, Jiji Press learned Monday.

The government also plans to improve monthly pay for certified care workers with continued service of over 10 years by 80,000 yen on average from October 2019.

The plans are part of a package of policy measures worth 2 trillion yen that the government is considering to boost human resources development.

In a draft of the package, the government said it will make costs for kindergartens, nurseries and "kodomo-en" certified childcare facilities that combine the functions of kindergartens and nurseries for children aged between 3 and 5 free of charge.

The draft said the government will draw a conclusion by summer next year on the scope of other facilities that will be made eligible for free-of-charge care.

For those aged up to 2, children from households exempt from residential tax payments will be eligible for free care for the time being, the draft package said, adding that the government will consider expanding the coverage in the future while considering ways to secure stable financial resources.

For higher education, national university tuition fees will be exempted for students from households that do not pay residential tax. An upper limit will be set on support for students studying at private universities. The package also sought to cut off support for students failing to meet certain criteria.

The government is considering making education at private high schools free of charge, a proposal from Komeito, the junior coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The government is considering launching support in accordance with annual income of households from fiscal 2020.

The draft said the government will use additional revenue from the planned consumption tax hike to 10 percent from 8 percent in October 2019 to cover 1.7 trillion yen of the 2 trillion yen.

The remaining 300 billion yen will be borne by private-sector companies as contributions to reduce the number of children on nursery waiting lists, the draft said. Jiji Press