Japan to spend around $17 billion to subsidise education

Japan's government will set aside around 2 trillion yen ($17.93 billion) to subsidise education costs and improve elderly care as part of an economic package due early next month, the Asahi newspaper said on Saturday. The government will earmark 800 billion yen for a new programme that will offer free day care for children 3 to 5 years old and free childcare for low-income households with children up to 2 years old from April 2019, the newspaper said.
The government will spend another 800 billion yen to offer free university education and more grants to low-income households that will begin in fiscal 2020, the newspaper said, without citing its sources.