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Collapsed college owes students $10m
THE collapsed GEOS English language college network was permanently shut yesterday after administrators discovered the Japanese owners had left it with no money to keep going. Students and staff are owed more than $10 million in pre-paid fees and entitlements. Worst-hit are about 1000 students who had paid GEOS for homestay accommodation and who could…
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Corporate pension age ‘to rise to 65’
The government will raise the eligibility age for a corporate, defined contribution pension plan from the current 60 to 65, chiefly in response to an increase in the number of employees working past the standard retirement age of 60, sources said. Should the eligibility age be raised for the plan–a Japanese version of the U.S.…
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Foreigners win ¥17 million for trainee abuses
The Kumamoto District Court awarded more than ¥17 million in damages Friday to four Chinese interns who were forced to work long hours for low wages in Kumamoto Prefecture. The court ordered that the union Plaspa Apparel, which arranged the trainee work for the four, to pay ¥4.4 million and that the actual employer, a…
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Big gap as Coast’s language school shuts
MORE than 250 foreign students receiving tuition on the Gold Coast have been left without a school and, for some, a place to live after their English language school was closed suddenly yesterday. Eight schools operated in Australia by the GEOS group, including one in Surfers Paradise, shut their doors in the afternoon after receivers…
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Shock as St Mark’s International College shuts doors
EMOTIONAL scenes erupted outside a Perth language school today after it closed unexpectedly due to financial problems. Dozens of foreign students, who have already paid thousands of dollars for courses, were still arriving for night English classes at St Mark’s International College in Perth tonight. The school is one of eight language schools across Australia,…
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Eight English language schools in limbo
Eight English language schools operated in Australia by the GEOS group have gone into voluntary administration, leaving about 2300 foreign students unsure of their future. Justin Walsh and Adam Nikitins of Ernst & Young have been appointed administrators to nine companies operating the schools in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Cairns. They…
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Administrators called to Perth school
Ernst and Young has been appointed voluntary administrators to private English language school GEOS Perth and eight other affiliated companies, affecting a total of 2,300 students from a number of countries. Justin Walsh and Adam Nikitins from E&Y will be administrators of the nine companies that operate eight schools in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Cairns, Gold…
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Rebuked ex-teachers lose ‘Kimigayo’ suit
The Tokyo High Court on Thursday rejected a demand for compensation by former teachers who argued they were refused postretirement re-employment because they had remained seated during the national anthem at school ceremonies in defiance of their principals’ orders. The ruling overturned a February 2008 decision by the Tokyo District Court that awarded a total…
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Guiding hand for Indonesian nurses
Program helps hospital ease assimilation for newcomers Cultural barriers faced by Indonesian nurses who come to this country to work are gradually being lowered, but the government has yet to help the Japanese hospital staff adapt, according to Keio University professors who recently launched an in-house training program to teach the employees how best to…
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McDonald’s told to pay overtime to manager
The Tokyo District Court ordered McDonald’s Holdings Co. (Japan) Ltd. Monday to pay ¥7.55 million in overtime allowance and “additional pay” to a manager at one of its outlets. Presiding Judge Iwao Saito ruled that Hiroshi Takano, 46, who manages a McDonald’s outlet in Saitama Prefecture, does not qualify as a manager under the Labor…