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School Education Law provides, in Articles 25 and 40, that municipal governments should provide necessary assistance to the parents of schoolaged children found to be having difficulty in attending school for financial reasons.

A specified portion of the funds for this type of assistance provided by municipal governments is subsidized by the national government under the provisions of the Law Concerning the National Treasury Share in the Encouragement of School Attendance for Pupils Having Financial Difficulties, School Lunch Program Law, School Health Law, etc. Moreover, those who cannot maintain the minimum standard of living due to financial difficulties are provided with educational aid seeparate1y under the provisions of the Daily Life Protection Law under the jurisdiction of the Ministry Health and Welfare.

Whi1e the latter type of educftiona1 aid is offered to needy households, the assistahce under the of provisions of the former group of laws is offerred also to semi-needy householdsl. As regards school excuriion expenses, medical expenses and the premium paid to th Japan School Safety Association, which are not made an object of educational aid under the Daily Lufe Protection Law, both needy and semi-needy households are eligible for subsidies. The amount per unit has been increased yearly.

And in view of special circumstances such as required to enable pupils to attend schools for the blind, schools for the deaf, or schools for the otherwise handicapped, it is stipulated in the Law Concerning Encouragemerft of Enrollment in Schools for the Blind, Schools for the Deaf, and Schools for the Otherwise Handicapped, etc. that the school attendance encouragement grant should be provided to the parents of those pupils for the purpose of alleviating their financial burden. Under the provisions of these statutes the national goverrrment subsidizes a half of the grants provided by local governments to the parents of pupils attending local and private special schools and provides all the grants to the parents of pupils attending national special schools.