Australia Expecting Nova Collapse Offers Consular Assistance to Teachers

Earlier this week it was reported that Nova, Japan’s largest English conversation school corporation, was having serious problems refunding students who had canceled their contracts, forcing the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to call for the company to return the money its former customers were owed. Representatives of the General Union, which represents Nova teachers, submitted a petition to the ministry:

“Nova is now facing a serious crisis,” Katsuji Yamahara, head of the multinational General Union, said at a news conference after meeting with ministry officials. “We asked METI for immediate action to save customers and teachers.”

Many former students have not had their tuition fees refunded even after leaving the school, Yamahara said.

“Only Nova knows how many such cases exist and how much money has not been returned,” he said. “It could be huge.”

Union officials also said Osaka-based Nova had temporarily failed to pay wages to some of its teachers, mainly those of foreign nationality. Wages for some of its Japanese staff have been put on hold as of Tuesday.

In response to such growing signs of disaster, the Australian government has announced it will offer help Australian Nova teachers who may soon be unemployed:

Consular assistance is being offered to 1,300 Australians whose English-teaching company in Japan is going bust, Foreign Affairs minister Alexander Downer says.

[...]

Mr Downer said on Friday that although the company had not “completely fallen over yet”, it would “fall over”, leaving 1,300 Australians financially stranded in a “very expensive” country.

“We’ll provide them with consular assistance if they need it,” he told ABC radio. “If they get into real personal difficulties, then we’ll obviously help them out.

“Otherwise, if they cannot find another job in Japan, then they’ll return to Australia.”

Some onlookers still doubt that Nova will completely collapse, but it would appear that the Australian government is expecting the worst…

Pat

The foreign guy in the back looks like he’s eying a donut…
Bruce Smith

Let’s face it folks: teaching English at Nova is not a real job. So the teachers should just brush up their resumes and find new jobs. Also the real victims of Nova’s imminent collapse are the students not the teachers.

Jazz

Yeah ’cause even though the teachers might be put into debt and be jobless simultaneously, it pales in comparison to the fact that Japanese kids won’t be getting extra help in learning to pass TOEFL tests with minimal understanding of English.

Bruce Smith

I am referring to the obvious fact that customers pay money.

Yes it’s no fun losing your job but it’s a fact of life. It happens to us all at one time or another. The thing to do is move on.

sara

Yeah but it doesn’t happen to most people in a foreign country where foreigners are limited in finding a new job, have no family to help out, have no idea how Japanese unemployment system works, or how to receive unpaid wages or unemployment money, etc. Please, unless you’ve ubruptly lost your job in a foreign country and also have no where to live , as the bankrupt company leases your apartment, then don’t make sanctimonious statements!!!

Bruce Smith

At one time in the past I did lose my job in Japan.

sara

So did I, at NCB, so that’s why I have great sympathy for Nova teachers. The president could be sued in a civil action for, among other things, breach of fiduciary duty to his company employees by mismanaging company assets, as well as breach of employment contracts. The conduct of the president, as well as other executives and directors has been very deceptive.

Refunds in general are rare in Japan- I’ve wanted return expensive items many times but couldn’t- it’s something to consider before buying something. As a worker, your job is often your whole source of income and you stand to be financially ruined where backpay is not forthcoming for 4-6 months and many foreigners cannot stay in Japan for that long. Many foreigners’ schedules also don’t meet the required hours to receive unemployment money. Finally, the language barrier would add an extra burden to situation.

The students will probably be allowed to take a limited amount of lessons at other schools when Nova finally goes bankrupt, even if Nova had no prior agreement with any of the schools.

In the end it’s always “buyer beware.” Not so for employees!

http://www.internet-business-marketing.net Internet Business Student

Ya! refunding after problem is normally a problem in every society. It is not always easy to refund.

Australia Expecting Nova Collapse Offers Consular Assistance to Teachers

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