Council eyes budget boost for national universities

The Education Rebuilding Council has mapped out recommendations to increase significantly the government budget for national universities, including a call for a review of its plan to cut university grants, for its second report to be released in May, sources close to the council said Sunday.

The council, chaired by Nobel laureate Ryoji Noyori, will suggest that the government earmark a budget that gives priority to higher education, such as universities and graduate schools, the sources said.

Finding ways to balance rebuilding education and fiscal reconstruction, the two areas being touted as the most important issues by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is a big challenge when compiling the fiscal 2008 budget.

The draft compiled by the council points out that Japan's education budget is very low compared with other industrialized countries, the sources said.

As such, the council will recommend special outlays that can be distributed in line with contents of university programs to rebuild education, the sources said.

Regarding the government plan to cut grants to national universities, the draft proposes an amount to cover their minimum utility fees and overhead costs for their facilities, the sources said.

Furthermore, with regard to the special educational and research outlays, the draft suggests that the outlays be distributed in line with the evaluation of university education and research programs rather than doing so solely based on the number of lecturers and students, the sources said.

In its second report, the council also plans to mention concrete measures for increasing the education budget, the sources said.

There have been suggestions that, aside from the Education, Science and Technology Ministry's education budget, official development assistance be used to invite scholars from overseas or that a portion of consumption tax be used for education.

Japan's budget for public education accounts for 3.7 percent of its gross domestic product, a figure lower than the 5.9 percent in France and 5.7 percent in the United States.

(Apr. 16, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070416TDY02009.htm