The following table compares the per student expenditures for public education in Japan with those in four other countries. Expenditures Per Student Enrolled in Public Educational Establishments in Five Countries. Per student expenditures in different countries should be examined in relation to the national income per capita in the respective countries. The elementary and secondary school expenditures for student, as well as the national income per capita, is lower in Japan than in any of the four other countries indicated. The cost per pupil in Japan is only a fifth of that in the Federal Republic of Germany, and slightly more than OIIC-half of that in Great Britain and the United States.
Japan has the lowest per student cost at the higher education level, too.
The low expenditures per student in Japan is attributable to the low national income per capita in this country. Further effort should be made to increase educational expenditures in this country. Costs per student enrolled in elementary and secondary schools in Japan vary among regions and communities. The difference in per pupil costs among prefectures has been increasing. In brief, further efforts are needed to raise costs per student in this country, and at the same time it is an important task to minimize the difference in expenses per pupil among regions and communities.