The most recent admissions knowledge, launched final Friday by the Osaka Prefectural Board of Training, revealed that 65 out of 128 full-time public excessive faculties fell beneath their enrollment capability. Amongst them was Nekawa Excessive College, a prestigious establishment with over 110 years of historical past. The college, which has historically maintained excessive software numbers, noticed its admissions ratio drop beneath 1.0 for the primary time—an unprecedented growth.

Nekawa Excessive College had lately elevated its capability by 40 college students because of sustained excessive demand in earlier years. Nonetheless, the shift towards non-public faculties, accelerated by the tuition-free coverage, might have contributed to the sudden drop in candidates. In response to the prefectural board, extra college students at the moment are choosing non-public establishments, and public faculties want to boost their enchantment to stay aggressive.

Osaka started phasing in its tuition-free coverage within the 2024 educational yr to ease monetary burdens on households. Whereas this initiative has made non-public schooling extra accessible, it has additionally accelerated the decline in public college enrollments.

Within the newest admissions cycle, the general variety of candidates for public excessive faculties dropped considerably in comparison with the earlier yr. Whereas enrollment quotas have been lowered by 1,539 college students for 2025, the variety of candidates declined by a fair larger margin—2,376 college students—leading to a mean software ratio of 1.02, the bottom on file and approaching the edge of falling beneath full capability.

Notably, even high-achieving public faculties weren’t spared from this pattern. Nekawa Excessive College recorded an software ratio of simply 0.95, whereas Yao Excessive College (based over 120 years in the past) noticed its ratio drop to 0.99. In Sakai Metropolis, Daiei Excessive College recorded a ratio of 0.9, marking its second consecutive yr beneath full enrollment.

The declining enrollment pattern is especially regarding as a result of Osaka Prefecture’s schooling coverage mandates that faculties failing to satisfy full capability for 3 consecutive years might face restructuring or closure. This coverage has already led to the scheduled closure of Izumitoritori Excessive College in Hannan Metropolis because of persistent under-enrollment.

Many college directors acknowledge that the tuition-free coverage has considerably impacted public college enrollment. One principal remarked: “We’re making efforts to enhance educational efficiency, however we might not be selling our strengths successfully. The growing old college buildings additionally make it tough to showcase our benefits.” One other principal famous: “That is the primary time we have fallen beneath full enrollment. Close by public faculties are additionally struggling. Non-public faculties have extra assets to put money into services, and that disparity is turning into extra evident.”

Officers from the Osaka Prefectural Board of Training acknowledge the challenges public faculties face in attracting college students. “With each a declining birthrate and tuition-free non-public schooling, extra college students are selecting non-public faculties. We have to discover higher methods to speak the strengths of public excessive faculties,” an official acknowledged.

Training specialists argue that the competitors between private and non-private faculties is essentially unbalanced. “Non-public faculties have extra monetary flexibility to put money into services and rent prime lecturers, whereas public faculties function underneath strict price range constraints and centralized staffing insurance policies,” one commentator defined.

Some are calling for Osaka Prefecture to reinvest its freed-up funds into public schooling. “Now that the nationwide authorities has carried out tuition-free insurance policies, Osaka’s impartial funding for this system—roughly 2.4 billion yen yearly—may very well be redirected to enhance public faculties. If each non-public and public faculties had the identical monetary backing, college students may make their selections primarily based on schooling high quality slightly than price,” an skilled urged.

With the bottom public highschool enrollment ratio in Osaka’s historical past, the mixed results of demographic decline and tuition-free schooling are reshaping the area’s schooling panorama. Whether or not Osaka’s public faculties can adapt to this shift stays an open query.

Supply: ABCTVnews