OSAKA -- The Osaka prefectural board of education plans to install air conditioners in all regular classrooms at prefectural high schools beginning in fiscal 2004, it was learned Friday.

The program will involve some 150 schools and will be the first project of its kind in Japan, the sources said.

The board raised tuition fees for prefectural high schools this year, citing the need to improve the environment in which the students study and to take steps to make schools offer unique programs.

In response, some members of the prefectural assembly and parents have called for the installation of air conditioners so that students are able to study in a better environment, and the board had been considering the request, the sources said.

Another reason behind the plan is the general trend toward hotter summers in the Osaka area. A sample study conducted by the board in July showed that temperatures in classrooms stand at around 30 during the daytime.

The board estimated that the cost of implementing the plan will come to roughly 20 billion yen, and the sources said it will be difficult for the cash-strapped prefecture to come up with the money.

As a result, the board hopes to use the roughly 900 million yen garnered through the tuition increase, coupled with additional funds collected from students who will benefit from the air conditioning, the sources said.