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hubba bubba
Joined: 24 Oct 2006
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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 Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:04 pm Post subject: |
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Interesting.
Well, if many of them decide to come to Korea, then they're in for a rude awakening by comparison. |
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chris_J2
Joined: 17 Apr 2006
Location: From Brisbane, Au.
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:18 pm Post subject: Nova |
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| I read a news item last year, that NOVA was on very shaky ground financially, & may go into liquidation at any moment. Do a google search. The item might be still there, if it hasn't been archived. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:24 pm Post subject: |
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http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/teachers-unpaid-as-company-falters/2007/09/18/1189881511712.html
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Teachers unpaid as company falters
Justin Norrie in Tokyo
September 19, 2007
HUNDREDS of foreign teachers of English in Japan were anxiously awaiting overdue wages from the Nova language school yesterday, amid speculation that the corporate giant was close to collapse.
The country's foreign workers' union said it could "only hedge a guess that up to 3000" English teachers, many of them young Australians, went without pay last Friday and were left waiting nervously over Japan's long weekend for the money.
"But at the very least there are hundreds of them. My phone hasn't stopped," said Louis Carlet, from the National Union of General Workers.
Some teachers said they were owed thousands of dollars, while others posted messages to say they were quitting in disgust. "I've never felt so defeated in my whole life," said a 24-year-old American teacher, Jerry Johnston, who was considering leaving Japan after just two months but could not afford the air ticket.
It is the second time in two months that Nova has paid staff late. A recent slide in the company's stock price followed news of a delay in payments to some of its 2000 Japanese staff last month.
The company employs about 7000 foreigners - more than any other Japanese company. Australians make up the backbone of its 5000-strong teaching staff. The company has more than 400,000 students, accounting for the biggest share of Japan's multibillion-dollar private English teaching industry.
But it has been plunged into financial crisis this year, partly due to overexpansion, but also because the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry banned the company, based in Osaka, from signing new students on long-term contracts for six months.
The order was given after a court ruled that Nova lied about its services and cancellation policy when soliciting students.
The chief executive officer of Nova, Nozomu Sahashi, issued a statement to staff at some branches last Friday to say it had "not been possible to complete all the necessary operations to deposit instructor salaries".
The statement assured that salaries would be deposited by today. But Mr Carlet told the Herald: "I'm getting reports that they have been cut off by their stationery suppliers, and delivery services, because they're not able to pay them. They could be on the verge of going under at any moment. It's very serious."
Nova posted a 2.5 billion yen ($25 million) loss in operating profits for Japan's last financial year, which ended in March. An article in the business magazine Toyo Keizai last month said the company was behind in payments to business partners and banks.
Although some teachers said their wages had arrived yesterday, others were still waiting late in the afternoon.
The manager of Nova's Tokyo branch, Robert Vaughan, could not comment on the matter, and a number provided for media queries at the Osaka headquarters went unanswered yesterday.
A 28-year-old Australian, who works as a teacher at a Nova school outside Tokyo, said: "My pay didn't come in on time and it was the same for a lot of people here."
The teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "No one seems to know what's happening - we're being kept in the dark."
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chris_J2
Joined: 17 Apr 2006
Location: From Brisbane, Au.
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:35 pm Post subject: Nova |
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I actually applied to Nova in April last year but was turned down at the interview. A blessing in disguise.
The Nova website states they have a strict policy of zero Japanese permitted in the classroom. I stupidly said 'Arigato', when the interviewer pretended to be a naive Japanese student. I occasionally use Korean words in the classroom here in Korea (I never overdo it though), but that's another post. |
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IncognitoHFX
Joined: 06 May 2007
Location: Yeongtong, Suwon
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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| I have two friends working at NOVA right now and they have no idea about all of this. It hasn't affected them in the least. |
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mrsquirrel
Joined: 13 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Some teachers said they were owed thousands of dollars, while others posted messages to say they were quitting in disgust. "I've never felt so defeated in my whole life," said a 24-year-old American teacher, Jerry Johnston, who was considering leaving Japan after just two months but could not afford the air ticket. |
Stupid *beep* for not having an exit plan. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:18 pm Post subject: |
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| IncognitoHFX wrote: |
| I have two friends working at NOVA right now and they have no idea about all of this. It hasn't affected them in the least. |
Have they been paid?
I'd have to think they'd be worried now. |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 12:49 am Post subject: Re: Nova |
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| chris_J2 wrote: |
| I read a news item last year, that NOVA was on very shaky ground financially, & may go into liquidation at any moment. |
Couldn't have happened to a nicer company. They deserve to go under. Too bad for the teachers, though. |
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tigerbluekitty
Joined: 19 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:12 am Post subject: |
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I've always been annoyed by NOVA. At least two months of probationary pay? Small rooms, shared apartments? Only 5-10 minute breaks inbetween classes? All those student evaluations the teachers gotta write up during the breaks too, they barely have time to use the restroom. Seems like hell. Just about every expat I've come across who has worked for NOVA ran from them.
Yep, NOVA deserves to go under.
Skin that awful Pink Bunny!  |
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IncognitoHFX
Joined: 06 May 2007
Location: Yeongtong, Suwon
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| Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:24 am Post subject: |
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| tigerbluekitty wrote: |
| I've always been annoyed by NOVA. At least two months of probationary pay? Small rooms, shared apartments? Only 5-10 minute breaks inbetween classes? All those student evaluations the teachers gotta write up during the breaks too, they barely have time to use the restroom. Seems like hell. Just about every expat I've come across who has worked for NOVA ran from them. |
Yeah, but I bet the Japanese kids are little angels compared to what we're used to. So I've heard, anyway. |
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tigerbluekitty
Joined: 19 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:33 am Post subject: |
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| IncognitoHFX wrote: |
Yeah, but I bet the Japanese kids are little angels compared to what we're used to. So I've heard, anyway. |
Oh yes, they are little angels. ^^
I taught at an international kindergarten there, it was tons of fun and the little ones are much more well-behaved than the little tyrants here. |
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IncognitoHFX
Joined: 06 May 2007
Location: Yeongtong, Suwon
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| Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:39 am Post subject: |
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I like my hagwon, because only %35 percent of my classes are bad. Usually in the 7-11 age range, with a few exceptions.
I've tried the spectrum of discipline, and sadly, they're becoming immune. They're even immune to calls home to the parents by my Korean co-teachers, the owner/director coming in and yelling at them, and me repeatedly taking their stickers away and disciplining them through other means (sitting in front of the class, getting kicked out to the hallway, et cetera).
I wonder what the Japanese do differently... |
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tigerbluekitty
Joined: 19 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 9:35 am Post subject: |
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| IncognitoHFX wrote: |
I like my hagwon, because only %35 percent of my classes are bad. Usually in the 7-11 age range, with a few exceptions.
I've tried the spectrum of discipline, and sadly, they're becoming immune. They're even immune to calls home to the parents by my Korean co-teachers, the owner/director coming in and yelling at them, and me repeatedly taking their stickers away and disciplining them through other means (sitting in front of the class, getting kicked out to the hallway, et cetera).
I wonder what the Japanese do differently... |
I guess it could be how the parents raise them combined with how the school staff disciplines them. The way children behave could be a cultural disposition as well.
In Japan it's all about disciplining the mind from what I've heard. Since birth they are taught not to reveal their true thoughts and emotions, to control them. To be peaceful, that silence is beautiful. |
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i_teach_esl
Joined: 07 Sep 2006
Location: baebang, asan/cheonan
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| Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:27 pm Post subject: Re: Nova |
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| chris_J2 wrote: |
| I actually applied to Nova in April last year but was turned down at the interview. |
ha! me too! nova suckas, im glad they're going under!!! |
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