Resentment Over Cost Of Rokkasho International School

[Mulboyne]

The Asahi reports (Japanese) that there is some controversy over an international school in Rokkasho, Aomori prefecture. Rokkasho was in the running as a site for the ITER nuclear fusion reactor but lost to France. In compensation, they were selected as the site of a materials testing and research facility. Part of the bid proposal included plans for a school to educate the children of international team members in the area. This duly opened last year, registered as the Aomori campus of the Kyoto International School, in rooms rented from a nearby junior school while a new dedicated 2-storey building was under construction. This new school is set to cost around 400 million yen while annual contracts for providing an English-based curriculum are around a hundred million yen. The Asahi points out, however, that there are currently only seven international pupils at the school and they are all either French or Spanish. The annual cost of teaching them is therefore nearly 15 million yen a head compared with an Aomori prefecture average for local kids of around 1 million yen. The prefecture and local municipality split the costs but do receive subsidies of 2.2 billion and 1.7 billion yen respectively for all nuclear-related projects in the area. Nevertheless, some are arguing that the plan for the international school has been poorly managed and it risks becoming an expensive white elephant. Those in charge of the ITER project argue that the school is essential if the facility is to attract high quality researchers from overseas. They also point out that the cost-per-pupil will drop sharply if more children join the school and reject the notion that any simple comparison can be made with education costs at local schools.

I can understand the concerns about the use of taxpayers' money, because subsidies such as these are reflected in electricity bills, but the complaints seem a little myopic given that no-one is seriously suggesting that the children should go to local schools instead.