News On Japan

Parents Struggle with Tablet Rental Fees as Gov't Shifts Funding Responsibility

TOKYO, Nov 12 (News On Japan) - Using tablets for classwork has become a standard practice in schools today. In public high schools across Japan, tablets were initially provided to each student with funds allocated by the government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This initiative allowed each student to receive a tablet device funded by public resources.

However, with the pandemic winding down and the government subsidies ending, more local governments are shifting the cost of tablets from public funds to parents.

Upon investigating, we found: Currently, in 23 prefectures, tablets are primarily funded by public resources, while in 24 prefectures, parents are generally responsible for covering these costs.

While the number of publicly funded tablets has decreased by around 60,000 compared to last year, the number of parent-funded tablets has surged by 260,000.

Source: KTV NEWS

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