東日本大震災と東京電力・福島第１原子力発電所事故の影響で、日本国内で働いていた外国人労働者が大量に国外流出した影響が深刻化している。原発事故後に一時、東日本や日本からの避難勧告を出した国々は勧告を解除し、欧米系の外国人は徐々に戻りつつあるが、中国など近隣のアジア系外国人の戻りは鈍いままだ。
Eikaiwa
Linguage Sued For Unfair Labor Practices
Today at the Tokyo Labor Commission, Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union sued language school Linguage (AKA Linguaphone) for a host of Unfair Labor Practices under the Labor Union Act (Act No. 174 of June 1, 1949).
Most public elementary school educators feel specialists should teach English
More than 70 percent of public elementary school educators believe teachers specializing in English should instruct English at elementary schools rather than homeroom teachers, according to a survey conducted by Benesse Corp.
Japan must ease migrant rules or lose carers – minister
Japan must completely revise its immigration rules to deal with a shortage of labour in an ageing society or risk losing workers to China, whose population is also greying, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said on Wednesday.
English Conversation (Eikaiwa) is A Con Game? Engrish Lessons From Yakuza 3 (英会話が詐欺)
What’s not well known is that a number of english conversation schools were and are still run by anti-social forces, some of them essentially being yakuza front companies. There are numerous ways these schools can be used as a semi-legal con-game.
68% of elementary school teachers lack confidence in teaching English
A majority of elementary school teachers who are about to start teaching English as a required subject to fifth and sixth graders this April lack confidence in teaching the subject and feel burdened by it, a recent survey by a private research body showed Tuesday.
Only 20% of English conversation teachers give classes in English
Only 20 percent of English oral communication teachers at Japanese public high schools were giving classes in English in 2010, far short of the “100 percent” target three years from now, a governmental survey showed Friday.
Concern over use of Japanese language in English conversation classes at high schools
Less than 20 percent of public high schools have been enforcing an English-only rule in their English conversation classes during the 2010 school year according to a survey, causing alarm at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
Oral communication (OC) classes were introduced for English studies at high schools in 1994 to help students improve their speaking and listening skills. Japanese students are often said to be poor at using English, even when they understand English grammar academically.
In revisions to MEXT’s national educational guidelines in 2009, it was clearly written that, “Beginning from the 2013 academic year, OC is to be a mandatory subject, and all OC classes are to be conducted entirely in English.”
The survey results, however, show that meeting that deadline might not be easy. MEXT surveyed around 3,600 public high schools on their use of English in OC classes, excluding Japanese-language lessons focusing on international study. Although still preliminary, the results suggest that in the 2010 academic year only 19.6 percent of high schools conducted their OC classes “mostly” in English, and only 32.8 percent conducted “more than half” of their OC study time in English. The values found by the previous MEXT survey — conducted for the 2007 academic year — were both higher, at 20.7 percent and 33.9 percent, respectively.
Furthermore, the number of OC teachers who meet MEXT’s stated guidelines for a teacher qualified to administer an OC class — pre-1 certification on the EIKEN English proficiency exam or a TOEIC proficiency exam score of 730 or higher — fell from 50.6 percent in the 2007 academic year to 48.9 percent in the 2010 academic year.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20101206p2a00m0na019000c.html
Nova chief’s sentence shortened
The Osaka High Court on Thursday shaved 18 months off the 3 1/2-year prison term of the founder and former president of Nova Corp., who was convicted of embezzling ¥320 million from the defunct English school chain’s employee benefit fund.
The counsel for Nozomu Sahashi, 59, plans to appeal.
Sahashi pleaded not guilty at his Osaka District Court trial and claimed the funds were diverted in an attempt to help the company, not for his personal benefit as charged.
Presiding Judge Sumio Matoba, however, upheld the verdict because the entity in charge of the funds was set up for the welfare of the employees and was thus separate from Nova by nature, ruling Sahashi inflicted damage on that entity.
Sahashi transferred all the funds in the entity to the bank account of a Nova subsidiary in July 2007 to reimburse a flood of students who had decided to cancel their lesson contracts over an advertising dispute.
But the judge shortened Sahashi’s sentence in recognition that his embezzlement was aimed at keeping the company afloat during the management crisis, and that his crime could be construed as containing a beneficial aspect for the employees.
Sahashi launched English conversation classes in Osaka in 1981 and set up Nova in 1990. His venture grew into Japan’s largest English school chain, boasting an enrollment of some 480,000 at its peak.
High Court Gives Ex-Nova President 2-Yr Jail Term For Embezzlement
The Osaka High Court on Thursday sentenced the founder and former president of English conversation school operator Nova Corp. to two years in prison for embezzling 320 million yen of employees’ benefit funds, reducing a lower court sentence of three years and six months.
The defense counsel for Nozomu Sahashi, 59, plans to appeal the ruling as he has pled not guilty to the charge since his first trial at the Osaka District Court, saying he used the funds for the company and not personal benefit.
Presiding Judge Sumio Matoba determined that the accusation was upheld, however, saying the entity in charge of the funds was aimed at the welfare of employees and was separate from Nova by nature, and that Sahashi had inflicted damage to the entity.
According to the ruling, Sahashi transferred the sum accumulated at the entity to a bank account of a Nova subsidiary in July 2007 to reimburse fees students had paid on contracts that they subsequently cancelled.
But the judge recognized in handing down the shorter sentence that the embezzlement was aimed at continuing operating the company amid its management crisis and had an aspect of benefiting employees.
Sahashi launched English conversation classes in Osaka in 1981 and set up Nova in 1990. His venture once grew into Japan’s largest chain of English schools, with some 480,000 people taking language lessons at its peak.
A month after Nova went bust in October 2007, some of its business operation were taken over by Nagoya-based G.communication Co.
In August last year, Nova’s bankruptcy administrator filed a damages suit against Sahashi at the Osaka District Court, seeking about 2.1 billion yen in compensation for breach of trust.