Nearly 1,000 language instructors were left fearing for their jobs on Friday after Nova, the scandal-ridden owner of Japan's biggest chain of language schools, closed its doors and filed for court protection from creditors with debts totaling an estimated ?43.9 billion (US$384.2 million).
The firm, which has about 900 schools and 418,000 students, built its success on the back of advertising campaigns promising opportunities for "international exchange" at schools near railway stations staffed by native-speaker instructors.
But its troubles began earlier this year when Japan's supreme court ruled that it had acted illegally by refusing to refund students who had canceled their contracts.
PHOTO: AFP
In June the trade and economy ministry ordered Nova to close some of its schools after ruling that it had misled students in advertising campaigns.
The negative publicity led to a dramatic decline in enrolments and left the school unable to pay thousands of its teachers, some of whom also face eviction because Nova failed to pay their rent, which is deducted from their salaries.
Nova's 2,000 Japanese staff have not been paid since July and about 4,000 foreign instructors have not been paid since September.
One British employee, who works as a trainer, said she and her boyfriend, who will not be paid until next month in a new job, were living off the last of their savings and help from their parents.
"Rent and bills are getting difficult to pay," she said.
Another British couple she knows are facing eviction, she added.
The Osaka district court will try to find sponsors to rebuild Nova's business. Trading in Nova shares was suspended on the JASDAQ securities exchange in Tokyo, with the shares to be delisted next month.
The General Union, which represents many Nova employees, said the school's troubles had reached crisis point.
"This is a serious development that could force many students, instructors and employees to suffer losses," the union's chairman, Katsuji Yamahara, said.
The British embassy in Tokyo has set up an advice page on its Web site.
It is putting British teachers in touch with a travel agency that has agreed to provide cheap flights to the UK.
"We are doing everything we can in terms of consular support and advice but the one thing we can't do is provide direct financial assistance," a spokesman told the Guardian.
Nova president Nozomi Sahashi was fired at an emergency board meeting on Thursday for his "opaque way of fundraising and negotiating with potential business partners," the company said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)