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English just ‘candy’ for the brain
Likening English education to “sweets”–pleasing but unnecessary–[newly appointed] education minister Bunmei Ibuki has again expressed his opposition to making the language compulsory at elementary schools. Questioned on the issue during a post-Cabinet meeting news conference Friday, the new minister insisted that teaching fundamental subjects such as Japanese should come first. Describing those core subjects as…
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National Union Voice
The Summer 2006 edition of the National Union Voice has just been published, with updates on our Berlitz and Nova Branches, as well as detailed information on your rights to Employee’s Health and Pension Insurance (Shakai Hoken), recent changes in National Health and Pension Insurance & social security treaties, and more.
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Nova projects net loss as rapid expansion backfires
Nova Corp said Friday it expects its group net balance to have fallen into the red in the business year through last March with a loss of 3 billion yen as a result of competition for student enrollment among its own schools. The major English conversation school operator had projected a 200 million yen profit…
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Wave of retiring workers could force big changes
All over Japan, companies are bracing for a demographic wave that will wash away many of their most experienced employees. The Japanese call it their “2007 problem.” Beginning next year, members of what Japan considers its baby boom generation will start hitting 60 and dropping out of the workforce. Some might postpone retirement, but they…
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Hard lessons in broken English
“A lot of people see the advertisements ? and think it will be like schoolroom teaching and lots of fun, but when you get here it is more like doing factory line work,” he says. “The whole teaching-English-in-Japan thing is a complete fraud and the experience can be quite bitter.” But for anyone set on…
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Thinking of teaching in Japan?
Most people, when they first arrive, work at a place like Nova, probably the biggest employer of native English teachers in the world. By dint of their overseas recruiting programme, NO-VAcation (as we called it when I worked there) is the first employer for many arriving in Japan. But even this has changed. Recently, after…
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Court rules English language school Nova billed student illegally
English language conversation school operator Nova Co. illegally billed a student when it refused to refund her the full price she had paid for classes she didn’t take, the Kyoto District Court ruled. Presiding Judge Mizuho Ebi ordered Nova to pay the student the 176,672 yen she had sought when suing the company. http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20060131p2a00m0na011000c.html
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Begunto Trick-or-Treats with Berlitz in Omiya
Flash Demo at Berlitz Omiya Branch Teachers Disciplined For Trivial Reasons The disrequest system at Berlitz is just one example of threats to job security faced by teachers in the eikaiwa industry. HR representatives claim that a pattern of complaints concerning any particular instructor can lead to discipline, and that six to eight official disrequests…
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Berlitz Tokyo Union Protests Pay Freeze
Across the Tokyo region, Berlitz language teachers are striking. Members of the Begunto Union, the Berlitz teachers’ union in the Tokyo region of Japan, are striking against management actions regarding a pay freeze and introduction of new work contracts they see as less than satisfactory. http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=3&no=243288&rel_no=1
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Nationwide Probe of 750 Language Schools
The evening edition of the Asahi Shimbun carried a story by Ari Hirayama about a nationwide probe of 750 language schools suspected of not enrolling foreign teachers in shakai hoken (employee pension and health scheme), not only on the front page but as the top story. It even beat out Saddam Hussein’s indictment. Bob Tench,…