Help For Nova Teachers?

With the collapse of Nova, thousands of foreigners in Japan are finding themselves without work. What kind of help can they expect to receive?

The British Embassy will offer a little bit of help to its citizens (about 1000 teachers):

In a statement, the embassy said it was unable to provide financial assistance to those affected, but could help them contact family and friends.

It added that its officials were “closely monitoring the situation”.

New Zealanders (about 500 teachers) are only being offered advice:

The New Zealand embassy in Japan is offering advice to staff about other possible work or whether they might be eligible for redundancy or unemployment insurance.

Aussies (about 900-1300 teachers) can expect better treatment from their embassy:

Even those with money to get home will struggle. Economy-class seats to Australia in November are tight and there are almost none left in December.

Qantas has offered Australian Nova employees discounted one-way fares for a limited time.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade last night said “traveller emergency loans” could be extended to some teachers, depending on circumstances.

Mr Sime said the Australian embassy in Tokyo had offered support of $150 each: “It’s something but it’s not going to be enough for everybody.”

No word yet about official help for Canadians (about 660 teachers) or Americans (number unknown).

Those who are holding out hope of eventually being paid their wages will probably have to wait 6 months or more, but there is a chance that the company could be bailed out by new investors and re-open some of its schools within a month…

[Update: We'd like to express our thanks to the Japan Times for mentioning Japan Probe as a source of information on the collapse of Nova! The article mentioning us can be found here.]