Nova considers closing at least 200 school branches

The Nova staff just want to be paid - in full and on time. Regardless of what people may think of Nova's teaching methods, wages must be paid for work done.

If Nova does go under, its impact will be widely felt in the eikaiwa/ALT world and wages will be pushed down even further as teacher supply outstrips demand. Nova students who have lost money are unlikely to be in a hurry to sign up with another eikaiwa.

 

I can't really understand all the negative feelings against people based simply on them being English teachers or English teachers for NOVA. English teachers may make-up a large percentage of the caucasian/western/visible foreigners in Japan but they in no way have the market cornered on being jerks. There are plenty of law firms, securities firms and trading firms that employ a@@holes who feel a sense of entitlement for whatever reason I can't really fathom. There are also plenty of English/French/German, etc. language teachers I've met who take their jobs quite seriously and if anything stress over the fact that many of their students don't do the same. Believe me, there are plenty of people working for places such as Morgan Stanley and the like who are simply glorified paper pushers, here for the expat salaries and chance to live the high life in an "exotic place".

It's not odd that people would be happy a devious company is going under but it is odd that people would be happy that others, many or most of whom they've likely never met, are going to lose their jobs. Even if you insist on hating the English teachers remember that NOVA employs about 3000 Japanese staff and many of them will have families, houses, and other responsibilities that will keep them here and - at least for the short term - unemployed.

 

*Has the law been changed about *hiring abroad? I thought *companies hiring foreigners *abroad had to give them a return *ticket; plus minimum wage of, *what, 250,000?

That was over 15 years ago.
There is no such law. The 250 000 yen minimum is a legend. Only Nova paid 250 000 every full time foreigner per month, competitors pay 180 000 and say there will be bonuses maybe. They can sponsor teachers anyway. That s sad because Nova was the school offering the less worse conditions in Kansai. And I ve seen all sorts of gaijin shops, daigaku, senmon gakko, international schools, culture centers... Outside Nova, they
hire instructors on a 40 minutes basis. They call you 15 minutes before to tell it s canceled and you don t need to come, you won t be paid for your the lesson or your travel expenses. That s the new standard from now on.

I don t agree with 100 percent of what he did, and when I was his employee I spent a lot of energy to have a number of things changed in the shop, but Saruhashi is the best boss I have had in this country, among a few dozens.

 

Fortunately Nova isn't a lifetime career for most of its teachers, from what I've heard. The local staff may be different though.

A bit less schadenfreude from some posters here would be welcome - I feel sorry for anyone losing their job when it isn't their fault, whatever that job may be

 

Excellent post, as is often the case.
In over six years here, I have never met a teacher for Nova or any other English language school, so I don't have an opinion one way or the other on them as people. The only teachers I've met were the ones at my son's international school, and they were all top-notch. (And, guess what, urko, many of them were from Canada, although I tried hard not to hold that against them.)
So, my feelings mirror yours. Let's not use the downfall of Nova, caused by shoddy business practices, not shortcomings on the teacher's part, to unload a bunch of prejudice against them.
And, as you said, sympathies to the non-teacher staff who will also get the axe as a result of this down-sizing.

 

I've met a lot of Nova teachers. Many times. I assume some were conscientious teachers, some I know were not. And that goes for the teachers I know who teach anywhere really. There are good ones and bad ones. The teachers at my kids school like Jerseyboys were top notch though.

Anyways Nova, Whatever, its gone. The great archetypical Eikawa fixture, gone. Hope people find new jobs.

 

In Tokyo alonet?

Pretty hefty blow to the economies of Australia and New Zealand.

 

I don't care about Nova but I do care about all the workers there. If Nova falls, hope you'll be OK, foreign and Japanese staff alike. Good luck all!

 

To everyone bashing Nova instructors, you may be right in a lot of cases, but not all. A lot of Nova staff have always dreamed of living in Japan and Nova was a way to make that dream come true. Just because you may not like the teaching methods used, i dislike a lot of them as well, doesn't give you the right to make generalizations. A lot of instructors try really hard to make lessons more than "playing Hungry Hungry Hippos" and do care about the students. So please think twice before you go bashing the entire Nova staff and put yourself on some sort of pedestal.

Secondly, whether you like Nova or hate Nova, everyone should at least feel bad for the staff that are not getting paid. Imagine you went to work everyday and you had to hear 1,000 different rumors (strikes, evictions from accommodations, loss of salaries, ect.) It just stinks. i came here because i fell in love with this country when i was 6 and made it a goal to get here. i accomplish this and now i have to worry everyday about my job.

So please, next time you want to bash the instructors on this thread, or another other blog, think about how you would be reacting in this position.

 

The eventual demise of Nova will not bring tears to my eyes. They are exploiters, pure and simple. I pity the poor teachers who have been used and abused by this rotten company, and I pity the poor Japanese who have been duped by them.

 

This is a company in financial turmoil. If they go into bankruptcy I doubt you will get paid (and it could take years). Accept this and start looking for other work now. If you wait another day it will only get worse -at least try to find some part-time work until you can figure the NOVA situation out better.

If you are a GT you will continue to teach by any means necessary and your students will need you.

 

Can anyone tell me when the teaching staff were told that they were not going to be paid on time? Or was it just that the pay never turned up in their accounts, without any warning being given by the company?

 

The real news here is that Nova is not paying landlords of apartments rented on behalf of it's teachers. Nova teachers are being evicted for non payment, although they paid Nova, Nova is obviously diverting the money to pay other bills. The government should be looking into this travesty, does anyone out there care about the teachers?

 

what a cheap shot to get free advertising for N@VA. you see, there havent been any CMs recently. This was a way to get their worried students to sign up more to keep the schools in their areas. For Free!
Stupid Japanese company. I hope the students, teachers and staff are ok. I dont give a rats behing about the company. surely, N@VA doesnt care about anyone but themselves

 

And still no pay for TIs. That's 12 days late now and it doesn't look like they'll be paid today either. Oh dear... Looks like they really are going under..