-
·
Hungry Nova teachers teach for food
A labor union representing former teachers at failed Nova Corp. launched a program Saturday that enables students to pay for language lessons by buying them meals instead of paying tuition fees. Nova has closed its schools nationwide, depriving nearly 300,000 students of classes and keeping the teachers out of work and pinched for money. At…
-
·
Worried NOVA students crowd into Osaka hall for meeting
The NOVA Students’ Association held its first meeting here on Friday, with many students appearing worried as they listened to the explanations about the company. About 1,000 participants poured into a hall in Osaka with a capacity of about 250, prompting the sponsor of the meeting to quickly find another location. The group was formed…
-
·
G.education officially takes over NOVA
Preparatory school operator G.education has officially taken over NOVA, the failed operator of Japan’s largest English conversation school chain, company officials said. The takeover took effect after a representative for G.education and receivers for NOVA signed an agreement on the handover on Tuesday. Osaka-based NOVA filed for court protection from creditors under the Corporate Rehabilitation…
-
·
New NOVA school opens
A company that has taken over NOVA Corp., the failed English school chain, has opened a new school here, company officials said. G.education, based in Nagoya, remodeled its “EC” English school as a NOVA school and opened it near Nagoya Station in Nakamura-ku. The company will hold meetings for NOVA students and new students on…
-
·
‘Gaijin card’ checks spread as police deputize the nation
In the good old days, very few Japanese knew about Alien Registration Cards ? you know, those wallet-size documents all non-Japanese residents must carry 24/7 or face arrest and incarceration. Back then, a “gaijin card” was only something you had to show a bored cop doing random racial profiling on the street. Legally, in fact,…
-
·
The takeover of Nova
The court-appointed trustees of Nova Corp. have given up trying to rehabilitate the nation’s largest language-school chain and have chosen a Nagoya-based company to take over part of Nova’s business. Although the trustees’ quick decision suggested that a business solution was at hand and the new company says it will “basically hire” all Nova teachers…
-
·
Reemployment offers likely for half of Nova staff, teachers
Nagoya-based G. communication Group, which will take over business operations of the failed English-language school chain Nova Corp., announced Monday it had issued unofficial job offers to 1,760 foreign teachers and Japanese staff formerly employed by Nova. G. communication plans to issue job offers to a further 694 people from Nova who have registered their…
-
·
Beyond Nova
On Saturday, meetings were held across Japan for Nova Corp. instructors and staff, to provide information about the sponsor’s plans for the future. Given the short notice (about two days), there was an impressive turnout at the meeting I went to, one of two held at Nova’s office in Shinjuku. A large number of the…
-
·
Long-term prepaid tuition comes undone
The business failure of Nova Corp.–the nation’s largest English-language school chain–left about 300,000 students in the lurch. This raises the question of how customers can be better protected when a business goes belly-up. G.education Co., a Nagoya-based cram school operator, will take over Nova businesses, which last month filed for court protection from creditors under…
-
·
NOVA students form support group
Students of failed English conversation giant NOVA Corp. have formed a support group, and are urging others to join them. The NOVA Seito no Kai was formed over the weekend by students of the failed chain. Organizers say they aim to work collectively to negotiate with NOVA’s apparent savior, Nagoya-based company G.communication grp. and the…