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Is CLAIR squandering taxpayer money?

The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR), the governmental organization responsible for the JET Program, could be in trouble. Popular Osaka governor Toru Hashimoto has started questioning CLAIR’s use of funds and has announced that the Osaka government may reduce its financial backing to CLAIR next year　(90% of CLAIR’s financial backing comes from money paid by local governments, and Osaka pays a big slice).

A TBS feature news program took a look at CLAIR, focusing on Hashimoto’s charges that local governments pay large sums of money to fund activities of questionable importance (This is only a partial clip of the show. If anyone can find the full video, let us know so we can post it!):

Below are some brief notes on the contents of the video.

Most of CLAIR’s executives are former high level government bureaucrats. This is a prime example of amakudari, the practice of offering high salary jobs to former bureaucrats in the hopes of receiving preferential treatment from their contacts within the government. An executive interviewed claims there is nothing corrupt going on: CLAIR has merely hired former high level bureaucrats because of they have the necessary skills to run the organization.
CLAIR has established several overseas offices. The report examines CLAIR’s New York office, finding that it costs a huge amount of money to maintain. CLAIR seems to think it is important to send workers from local governments across Japan to the New York office, but the nature of their work – entertaining/guiding visiting Japanese legislators, writing a few reports, and organizing sister cities programs – may not seem to justify the cost. Rent for the Manhattan office is very high (about $40,000 a month) and its interior is spacious and clean. Those working for CLAIR in New York have huge cubicles, while Osaka city employees must work in old cramped offices. (TBS also seems to have a problem with the fact that CLAIR’s website mentions how workers in New York can enjoy bagels and coffee on the weekend. )
CLAIR has been receiving much more funding than it needs to maintain its current operations. It has saved up billions of yen, which may be used to set up even more overseas offices in the future.

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43 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - February 15, 2009 at 8:41 pm

Categories: Teaching English Tags:

Ikunochan

Good for Hashimoto! I’m glad he’s trying to do his best for Osaka.
Level3

Three words:

Prime Minister Hashimoto

If the bureaucrats/powers-that-be don’t destroy him first. They’re sure to try.
one

Ending the JET program would be a overall good thing for everyone. Many of the JETs are straight out of uni and have zero work experience, many don’t even have life experience. They are then let loose in japanland with the idea that they are somehow now very important. When they go back home they usually have trouble finding work.

Darg

I’m a former JET, although I wasn’t an ALT. I was a CIR (Coordinator of International Relations), and have had this convo many times before. I really think the proper solution should be to put more focus on the international understanding and relations and less on the English teaching, and as a result have more CIRs and less ALTs.

I believe the CIR job is closer to the original intention of the JET program, and that is to promote cultural exchange. The problem is, most people don’t even know what a CIR is and think the JET program is a big waste of money because of the portion of ALTs that come out here and screw things up for the majority who actually try and get something done.

If they required a minimum of teaching experience for ALTs and raised the CIR:ALT ratio, I think a lot more people would appreciate the JET program.

http://relaxedfocus.blogspot.com Rob

Respectfully, I disagree. A CIR, even when they do their jobs well, become another bureaucratic cog in the Japanese system.

Personally, I think as an ALT, everyday with the kids on the ground and in the trenches, so to speak, has a lot more influence on opening up folks minds to different people and different experiences and cultural exchange – hence, you know, internationalization.

And most folks with teaching pedagogy or educational degrees aren’t interested in going overseas and spending a few years outside their area of specialization or career track. To get more experienced/qualified teachers, you’d have to pay more. And that’s not happening.

http://ddurgee.blogspot.com Darg

Ok a couple points:

1) You’re bureaucratic point is true in a sense for those stuck in the 市役所・県庁 as a translator all day, but there are also a bunch of us that wound up in smaller venues and/or are given opportunities to hold events and classes on a regular basis.

Then again, there are also ALTs who basically sit in the teacher’s lounge all day and teach only a handful of classes because their BOE doesn’t want to/ know how to use them properly.

2) Even accepting the fact that I’ve met ALTs who busted their ass and have impeccable Japanese, passable Japanese is a minimal requirement for a CIR, meaning that more of us are in a good position to be understood by the masses and get the point across in my opinion.

3) 24/7 ambassador – think of the impact you make outside of work through daily interactions as well. 2) applies here too (again just my opinion), and given the higher average age you’re likely to get a little more maturity and avoid more of the people ‘one’ was talking about.

Oh, and another thing that people aren’t seeming to realize about increasing CIR numbers is that the largest growing portion of the CIR population is from non-English speaking countries – Chinese and Korean CIRs are in great numbers and are probably even more useful than native English ones. There’s also increasing demand for Spanish speakers, as well as Portuguese.

http://relaxedfocus.blogspot.com Rob

“When they go back home they usually have trouble finding work.”

That’s a nonsense generalization. And for me, personally, of the folks I’ve known who’ve done JET, has no bearing on reality.

KokuRyu

If they required a minimum of teaching experience for ALTs and raised the CIR:ALT ratio, I think a lot more people would appreciate the JET program.

While I think that’s a good idea, it probably won’t happen. For one thing, compulsory English education has been expanded to primary schools, and the program simply needs more JETs. The economy in countries where JETs are recruited has been doing well over the past decade or so, and so it’s been hard to recruit “qualified” JETs; there probably is little interest in raising the bar for applicants.

The same challenges affects CIR recruitment: there aren’t enough qualified applicants, and there won’t be any time soon.

Enrollment in post-secondary Japaneses programs as declined over the past fifteen years or so. There just aren’t enough (Western) folks studying and learning Japanese and Japanese culture, the prime requisites for being a CIR.

And even if you could boost the CIR vs ALT ratio, how many CIRs would want the job? Many CIRs quit JET after just one year because they are “forced” to teach English rather than facilitating cultural exchange.

Besides, since local communities can opt out of the JET program, many do, and instead contract out to Interac. This process may the death of the JET program, but it’s going to take another five years or so.

http://ddurgee.blogspot.com Darg

“There just aren’t enough (Western) folks studying and learning Japanese and Japanese culture, the prime requisites for being a CIR.”

See my comment above – I think there should be more Chinese, Korean, and South American CIRs. Considering how small a fraction the native English community is of Japan’s foreign population, I think it only makes sense.

The JET ALT position is seen as overpriced to the Japanese (thus the gradual move to outsourcing like INTERAC), so I wouldn’t be surprised if numbers are drastically lowered or cut… I’d rather see a restructuring of JET than its collapse though.
Miss_igirisu

“There just aren’t enough (Western) folks studying and learning Japanese and Japanese culture, the prime requisites for being a CIR.”

Freshly interviewed for CIR last week, I was phoned and told that my Japanese wasn’t good enough to be a CIR, even though I have passed JLPT 2. They offered me the job of ALT. I’ve known ALTs with far better and CIRs with far worse Japanese than mine.

Bruce Smith

So accept the ALT job offer ! You still get to go to Japan

Da Kappa

With the demise of Eng Conversation schools in Japan, there is a glut of qualified ALT instructors. There really is no need for the government to encourage unskilled and unqualified foreigners to teaching positions in Japan when this market is oversaturated. JET (in regards to the ALT portion) is a concept that has overstayed it’s usefulness in Japan. CIR on the other hand appears to have more merit.
http://relaxedfocus.blogspot.com Rob

Wow, so much JET Programme hate… what’d they do, steal your girlfriend and kick your dog?

Fair cop to Hashimoto for trying to eliminate waste and abuse – though honestly, the TV clips focus on things like office space and coffee and bagels is a tribute to the absurd, and kind of useless notion in Japan that everyone needs to be suffering equally.

Does anyone actually think that the JET Programme is the biggest drain on the CLAIR budget?

My bias is showing, of course, as I’m on JET – year 4 – and I guess my experience is not the standard. I came to JET later in life, and not straight out of college, because I’d been in Japan earlier in life and really enjoyed the culture. I’ve made solid connections in my job, have good working relationships, decent living conditions, and most importantly, think I’ve really connected with my students and become a part of the community in the city where I live.

But for everyone who knocks straight out uni JETs “inexperience” and “first job”… that’s nonsense. Something has to be everyone’s first job. And if the personnel vetted for JET had more qualifications, as it’s frequently called for when critiquing JET, well, then those folks with more qualifications would probably go ahead and take better jobs with more responsibility and chances for advancement instead of a position where, frequently, they’re ostracized at work, live in sub-standard jutaku housing, and rarely are taken seriously.

As for the call for less ALTs and more CIRs… I don’t want to knock CIRs, as I’m sure they do quite a bit of good, but ultimately, they’re kind of office bureaucrats. In my opinion, they can’t have nearly the effect on opening up young kids’ minds to language, foreigners and foreign experiences – real international understanding – as ALTs in the trenches everyday with students. IMHO.

And yes, with the increase in primary school English requirements, you’re going to need more and more ALTs… not CIRs. Whether those should be JET Programme or private company is a fair debate, of course. I do find those who tout the superiority of private company ALTs kind of funny, when the pool of folks who frequently hit up the companies abroad are – in my limited experience – folks who didn’t make the cut for JET.

Authentically good, bi-lingual, education trained, experienced ALTs are few and far between. And often have better job prospects than coming to Japan.

Marco Polo

“Fair cop to Hashimoto for trying to eliminate waste and abuse”. Waste and abuse is endemic in any government-run enterprise: there is little or no accountability, and where is the incentive to save money? Better to sell CLAIR off to the highest, private, bidder.

” – though honestly, the TV clips focus on things like office space and coffee and bagels is a tribute to the absurd, and kind of useless notion in Japan that everyone needs to be suffering equally.”
Yup. It’s called “trial by public opinion” + “politics of envy”. “Oooh! His cubicle is bigger than mine. It MUST be unfair!”
The Overthinker

“Something has to be everyone’s first job.”

For most people it is something a little less significant. Flipping burgers, for example. The point is that most of these people have (a) no teaching qualifications or any real training, and (b) are let loose at a young age not only in their first job but one in a strange land, and with decent pay in general. No wonder many of them treat it as party central. Are there sincere, dedicated JETs? Sure there are – I’ve met several. I’ve also met JETs who embarass the entire Western world.

http://relaxedfocus.blogspot.com Rob

Okay, I guess I should’ve been clearer, though I’m inclined to think youre being a little intentionally something or another here – by first job I meant first post-collegiate employment. Most folks I grew up with flipped burgers or cashiered or waited tables in high school. Nobody’s first job after picking up their bachelor’s is working the grill at McDonald’s. At least not intentionally.

If you’re a college graduate, 22-23 years old or so, and aren’t equipped/can’t deal with the responsibility of being a grown up with a job, that’s probably not going to change and the odds are you’re gonna be a screw up well into your 30s, at least.

For every time you used “JETs” in the above paragraph, you can substitute ‘person,’ ‘tourist’ ‘middle manager’… basically anything. Screwups abound in all facets of life.

And again, if you want older, more experienced, more ‘mature’ [and personally, I don't find age equivalent to maturity] ALTs, you have to pay them more, which ain’t happening.

The Overthinker

Yeah, the burger comment was flippant (ha), but the point still stands: that teaching is a job with a lot of responsibility: ‘real’ teachers get years of training. You can go straight into working at Nisho Iwai as a rank-and-file salaryman out of university, easily. It’s not a case of being 22 and not being able to cope with *a* job. It’s the type of job. Screwups do abound in all facets of life. But we’re not talkin about tourists, for example.

I don’t argue for increasing the age, but increasing the maturity level.
http://relaxedfocus.blogspot.com Rob

Okay… and how does one “test” for maturity, exactly?

Besides an application and interview process, which is kinda what everyone already does?

I don’t know that “‘real’ teachers get years of training” is actually true. At least not always. I’ve had at least two Japanese teachers of English over the past 4 years who weren’t “really” teachers but were given all the responsibilities thereof. [Subbing in for year/year and a half long maternity leaves...]

Both had studied English in college or taught private English, but neither had studied ‘teaching’ or teaching methodologies, and it was their first time in front of a classroom with no real ‘training’ for it. I actually had more in-classroom time than them, and they were asking me for advice on how to run a classroom, which was kind of surreal.

Even in the U.S., where my wife was a HS teacher, she had courses in teaching theory in college, but besides from about 2-3 weeks student teaching, her experience was pretty nil before she actually got a job.

Everybody starts somewhere, even in jobs where there is “lot of responsibility.” Learning curves are quick, and steep. Some JETs pass, some fail. And no screening process screens out everybody.

And apropos of nothing else, I’ve met JETs who seemed like a huge embarrassment out in the “real” world, but who, surprisingly, did kind of a kick ass job at their schools. Which is fine… work hard, play hard, etc, etc.
The Overthinker

“Besides an application and interview process, which is kinda what everyone already does?”

Well, this is the obvious first place to look. Perhaps there is room for improvement.

“she had courses in teaching theory in college”

Are US teachers required to get a licence or diploma or some form of certification to be able to teach?

“Some JETs pass, some fail. And no screening process screens out everybody.”

Obviously not. But can’t we try and do something about the percentages?
http://relaxedfocus.blogspot.com Rob

Teacher req’s are state-by-state. All have licensing requirements, but they vary and there are quite a few caveats/exceptions/depending on the unions, etc. And then the req’s for substitute teachers, both short and long term, vary wildly.

I don’t think anyone is saying that improving the screening process would necessarily be a bad thing, but I am kind of tired of the never-ending pile-on of “JETs suck! They should screen better!” vagueness without ever offering up one concrete improvement they could make.

The only thing you ever hear is “more experience/maturity/qualifications” needed, while at the same time wholly ignoring the fact that increasing those specific requirements would require better pay. And for all the good things about the JET Programme, the pay has remained the same for 20 years. So that’s not happening.

Tom

Rob makes all good points, imo.

Bruce Smith

The funniest part is that the guy seconded from Sakai-shi to the CLAIR New York office still wears his Sakai-shi employee uniform !
Marco Polo

“And even if you could boost the CIR vs ALT ratio, how many CIRs would want the job? Many CIRs quit JET after just one year because they are “forced” to teach English rather than facilitating cultural exchange.”
Woah. Jasuto a minitto. “Culture exchange” = teaching Engurisshu, no? What else could it be? (That’s sarcasm, folks).
Jake

FWIW, I have coffee and bagels on weekdays, baby. And I live in Osaka. (Thank you Costco Amagasaki.)

Good on Hashimoto, though. I don’t agree with everything he’s doing but someone stirring up the pot in politics is rare in Japan.

As for teaching English in Japan, it’s such a convoluted and misguided system that it’s hard to say where reform should start, but phasing out the system of dispatching inexperienced ALTs (both JET and private) would be a good start.

http://relaxedfocus.blogspot.com Rob

True, but if you hire experienced/more qualified ALTs, you’d be expected to pay salaries commensurate with experience and qualifications. And would have to pay a non-subsidized living wage for Japan as a matter of course. And neither private companies nor the government seems willing to do that, in general.

Jake

That’s precisely it, though — they don’t need to keep ALT numbers at their current level. Properly trained and competent Japanese teachers of English would be more than enough in a great many scenarios. I studied Japanese for four years in high school under an American teacher and without the benefit of an ALT equivalent, and I was probably at JLPT level 2 upon graduation (and could speak pretty well, too). Anyway, my point is that having a warm foreign body in every classroom in the country has become the status quo and nobody seems to be questioning that system itself — just figuring out how to maintain the system while cutting costs (i.e. handing all the contracts over to Interac). Then again, retooling the system to teach English in a manner that enables students to actually speak would also mean retooling the entire test-based educational system, and until that happens, pretty much any new policy implemented is going to be nothing more than a band-aid on a brain tumor.

…whew, sorry about that rant there!

http://www.mutantfrog.com/ Adamu

Did you notice that this issue has NOTHING to do with the merits of the JET program itself? The problem is that the bureaucrats have turned parts of the program into their own slush fund, which enriches their post-retirement accounts and improves their golf scores at the expense of the Japanese taxpayers and maybe even people who didn’t get accepted to the JET program (since part of the acceptance cutoff is no doubt due to budget constraints). It’s so laughable for them to have overseas offices since they don’t even process the applications – that is the foreign ministry’s job.

This misappropriation issue isn’t any reason to end the JET program. In fact, considering all the extra money they are raking in it looks like they could be accepting even more JETs. I have argued elsewhere that it may have outlived whatever functionality it had as an English teaching program, but as Yomiuri documented around its 20th anniversary the program itself has by and large been extremely beneficial to the teachers who come and have a once in a lifetime experience (or get a foothold for a life in Japan), the schools who want foreign English teachers, and Japan’s soft power as the program generates massive goodwill and a niche workforce of Japan-savvy English speakers.

But if one of the organizations involved is being exploited for no real reason but to provide an excuse for internal affairs bureaucrats to get post-retirement salaries and live the Japanese dream of endless enkai and golf with their coworkers, then Hashimoto is right to use his spending authority to try and put an end to it. As much of a showboat as he can be, that’s an example of real leadership and sticking up for what’s right.

I understand the motivation for post-retirement income, but what I will never get is why these oyaji seem to love drinking in their work suits and basically never leaving the damn office. If you are going to misappropriate funds, at least do what American politicians do and get sweet renovations to your house!

They have 12.7 billion yen a year in unused funding! I propose using that money to send free cookies to every woman who gets pregnant. It will help alleviate the low birth rate AND I’ll only overcharge the government 50 billion yen a year — big savings!
Pingback: Mutantfrog Travelogue » Blog Archive » One arm of the JET program possibly misappropriating funds
http://www.mutantfrog.com/ Adamu

oops i meant 5 billion yen…

The Overthinker

For?

http://www.mutantfrog.com/ Adamu

for how much I plan to overcharge the govt for the free cookie program…
The Overthinker

Now that is odd. I saw your “oops i meant 5 billion yen…” comment, and searched in vain for anything it could refer to. Your longer comment up there was not visible. It seems longer comments take loner to appear….

http://www.mutantfrog.com/ Adamu

Hmm, I can see it at least. Can you? I did crosspost on my blog so if you must see it, it’s there.
http://www.japanprobe.com James

For some reason, Adamu’s comment was originally caught in moderation, delaying it for hours.

Sorry for the time gap!

Josh

This isn’t the time or place to hate on the JET program and I apologize if you feel my remarks are inflammatory (that’s not my intention).

I happen to be an “Aspiring JET” with plenty of ‘teaching experience’ and “working experience”.. who has *just* finished the interview stage here in the states and personally the current vetting/screening process of nearly 7-8 months is already comprehensive enough. Last year alone, out of thousands of ‘qualified’ people, only 2000 or so were chosen for interviews this month. In that interview, they focus directly on how well applicants would ‘teach’ as well as having candidates demonstrate their teaching methods right there. It’s tough, rigorous, and those who’ve done it and pass know that Clair and others design their application process to weed out potential drop outs and to hire only those who show serious potential. Of course they’re flaws, but less then when it first started.

Another point is that the “A” in ALT doesn’t signify that JET Assistant Language Teachers *need* to be “qualified.” If anything the burden is on Japan’s Schools and Boards of Education to make sure their English teachers are “qualified.” As Bruce Feiler pointed out in his book “Learning to Bow” the JET program was designed with the idea of ‘team teaching’ with a qualified professional, and the role of the ALT was to demonstrate English as a ‘living language’– Notice how the emphasis isn’t on outsourcing the English learning program to foreigners, but supplementing it. A big difference IMHO.

Ikunochan

“This isn’t the time or place to hate on the JET program…”

Actually, this has been a very common place to hate on anything, anytime.
one

The “A” is a joke. In many cases the j-teacher sits back and lets the “A” do all the planning and teaching. It is just a loophole written into the j-education system so they don’t have to give gaijin a real job after three years or tenure after ten which is required by law for all teachers in public schools. Being an Assistant means you are not a real teacher here even if you do all the work.

Marco Polo

To re-phrase Josh’s earlier comment, I suspect that the “A” in ALT is to avoid the requirement that anyone who teaches in a Japanese classroom be a fully certified teacher, according to Japanese law.

And I agree with Jake: more, better, JTE (Japanese teachers of English) would probably be a better solution. But having a live “gaijin” is a big motivator – it’s like having a live Roman in a Latin class.
MeAndroo

Can’t emphasize this enough…the “assistant” label is often only appropriate for ALTs who teach at schools with dedicated Japanese English teachers, which means those who teach elementary are on their own. Sometimes even those WITH JTEs have to plan everything. I’m a 1st year JET with decent Japanese ability and was basically tossed into an elementary classroom and told to teach. Assistant to whom?

RT

When they start requiring foreign language teachers study overseas for at least one year, then there will be no further (or at least much reduced) need for ALTs in the classroom. Until then, where will the English language teachers learn to speak and pronounce non-katakana English? I kid and exaggerate, of course, but there is more than a kernel of truth to this. The biggest effect on kids is demonstrating that English is a living language and that foreigners aren’t complete freaks. For teachers, it’s exposure to English produced by a native speaker. They typically have to interact in English, which greatly improves their English language ability. This improved skill can be passed on to students for decades. As foreign language teachers get more experience overseas, the need for this will diminish, but it’s not there yet.

I suspect part of the reason for JET and ALTs was and is to expose xenophobic Japanese to real, live (and mostly non-threatening) foreigners so they’re less likely to scream “gaijin da!” at the first sign of a racial other. It used to be worse, much worse, than it is today.

Finally, it creates a pool of relatively educated foreigners with interest, experience and hopefully warm memories of Japan. Look at academia and the business world with people specializing in Japan. You’ll find large numbers of them under 40 that participated in the JET program. Diplomacy and soft power.

Is JET the best, most cost efficient way to accomplish the above goals? I’m not sure. But it has accomplished at least some of them.

And are people seriously suggesting that private English teachers are somehow better than JET ALTs? I’d say they’re both a giant crap shoot. Too many of each seem to be professionally bitter about Japan, Japanese, other teachers and their students.
Pingback: Mutantfrog Travelogue » Blog Archive » Let’s stop hurting each other - negative gaijin competition
http://NYfacilitiesnotexceptional anon

The NY facilities don’t look extravagant at all. Pretty standard sized cubes. Office interiors are relatively clean, but definitely not exceptional. The building that they’re in is also not all that great. It’s on Park Ave, yes, but not in a better part. I guess Japanese office space is more modest than I thought.

The Osaka office, however, is truly sad. Japan runs on attracting the best & brightest to public service. Tough to continue that tradition if those conditions are representative.
http://japanheo.blogspot.com/ Charles Jannuzi

The JET Programme always attracts a lot of discussion, and its share of detractors. If somehow they could make the language teaching and learning aspects of the program more intense and beneficial for the public and private schools that host the ALTs. I was never very clear on what CIRs did except act as overpaid, low-skill translators, unless they were acting like ALTs while pretending to be something else. I disagree with the thought that the money would be better spent on the Japanese teachers of English. A lot of money is already spent on them, from their training, certification, career development right on through retirement. The question is why so many, even if they can speak English, can’t teach intensive English to Japanese students. And the answer looks to be because there is no ability or proficiency tracking, and the teachers are asked to deliver English to the entire student population, from elementary school right up through university (where there is a decided lack of English or FL-related courses of study).

Is CLAIR squandering taxpayer money?

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