d. The Financing of Schools under the Education System Order

A great number of provisions concerned with educational expenditures and costs of establishing and operating schools were covered in the chapters of the Education System Order. In principle, the responsibility for providing the funds necessary for the establishment and operation of schools was to be borne by the school districts in question. This meant that middle schools would be supported by their immediate districts and elementary schools by theirs. Accordingly each school district was expected to plan the operation of its schools to be paid for by taxation, donations, tuition fees, and others with any deficits being made up with grants from the National Treasury. Those items of educational expenditure which could be covered by Treasury grants were limited to general subsidies to school districts, salaries and other expenses incidental to the appointment of foreign instructors, repairing expenses and the cost of teaching materials and instructional aids for universities and middle schools, and funds allotted to scholarship students and students appointed by the government to study abroad. Originally no fixed terms were stipulated of the subsidy consigned to the prefectures by the National Treasury for the use of school districts. Later in December, 1872, a fixed amount based upon population figures was established, but it fell short of the required amount.

The expense of establishing and administering schools was in principle the responsibility of the people living in each school district. Tuition fees were to be paid by the parents of individual pupils in order to raise the greater part of the required revenues. For this reason an especially high tuition was established, and it was not without difficulty that the tuition fees were collected from the people; financing of schools had to rely extensively on both voluntary and involuntary donations.