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Top court rules Nova policy illegal / School must fully refund cancelers
The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that major English school Nova Corp.’s method of settling early cancellations of its courses by using a higher unit price than when the contract was signed is illegal and violated the Specified Commercial Transaction Law. The ruling followed a case brought by a 39-year-old man from Kita Ward, Tokyo, who…
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Top court: Nova’s refund tactic illegal
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal filed by Nova Corp., saying the refund system of the nation’s largest English conversation school is invalid and violates the specified commercial transaction law. The decision finalized the rulings of two lower courts that ordered Nova to refund about 310,000 yen to a former student, the full…
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NOVA ordered to repay English tuition fees to man who cancelled contract
The top court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by prominent English language school NOVA and ordered the group to return about 300,000 yen in prepaid tuition fees to a student who cancelled a contract. NOVA’s tuition policy of selling classes on a point basis, with lessons becoming cheaper the more students buy, was at the…
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Strike and Nationwide Protest against Union-Busting at ELS-Berlitz in Sapporo
Demonstrators gathered in front of ELS-Berlitz schools in Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Tokyo last Saturday to protest dismissals of four union members at the Sapporo ELS-Berlitz school. Friends and students joined union members to hand out over 600 leaflets during a strike at the Sapporo school, while in Tokyo, Berlitz teachers and other union members called…
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Education boards hit for using contract staff as ALTs
Twenty-three municipal boards of education in Osaka Prefecture are suspected of using native English-speaking contract workers as assistant language teachers and placing them under the control of schools, a possible violation of the Temporary Staffing Services Law, an Osaka-based union announced Thursday. The Osaka Labor Bureau has instructed six municipal boards of education, including those…
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Bigger is not always better for Japan’s English teachers
Different-sized schools pose varied challenges for foreign employees While exact figures are unavailable, but it is fair to assume that a large number of foreigners who work in Japan will spend at least some of their time teaching in a language school. But should you lose yourself in the facelessness of a large company, or…
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Foreigners march for worker rights
Workers from all parts of the globe battled wind and rain Sunday to give speeches, performances and then trudge through the streets of Shibuya, Tokyo, calling for job security and equality for all. “This march is about raising people’s awareness about the job situation in Japan, especially for foreigners,” said an American woman dressed as…
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Students at ‘McEnglish’ schools taste the spit in the burger
“We’re supposed to have 10 minutes between classes, but get none. We’re not allowed to talk to students away from the classroom. We have to move around our building via the emergency exit stairwell,” one former English teacher tells Weekly Playboy. “The pay is 250,000 yen a month. At first I thought it wasn’t bad,…
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Education Minister Slammed For Comparing Human Rights To Fatty Butter
[Amnesty International] slammed Japan’s education minister on Tuesday for comparing human rights to fatty butter and saying too much would give Japan “human rights metabolic syndrome.” “No matter how nutritious it is, if one ate only butter every single day, one would get metabolic syndrome,” Education Minister Bunmei Ibuki reportedly said at a speech in south…
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Abe Sees No Problem With Education Minister Calling Japan ‘Homogeneous’
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday downplayed criticisms over his education minister’s remarks a day earlier and said there was nothing wrong with the minister calling Japan an “extremely homogenous” country. “I think he was referring to the fact that we have gotten along with each other fairly well so far,” Abe said when asked…