Nova a Dying Star

by Spencer McCall

Nova Corp, Japan’s leading ESL franchise is set to close as many as 200 of its 900 branches in an effort to cope with an escalating scandal that began in June of this year, as Japan Today newspaper reported, when “METI [Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry] ordered the school . . . to suspend part of its operations for lying to consumers in advertisements about its services.” Japan Today, Wednesday, October 10th, 2007. Before the scandal broke, Nova had roughly 480,000 students enrolled in 900 schools throughout the country.

Foreign instructors have not received their wages since autumn. Nova Corp has delayed paying wages to their 4,000 foreign employees since September, “and the company has notified the instructors that payments for October will also be delayed until Friday [Oct. 19th].” Japan Today, October 16th, 2007. Decreased student enrollment and canceled contracts have added to the company’s woes. Although there are reports of unions and individuals threatening criminal charges, no charges have been laid against Nova Corp.

Some embassies, including Britain and Australia, are offering assistance in the way of cheap flights to their nationals who wish to return home.

The impact of Nova Corp’s scandal will most likely be felt regionally as well as nationally. As the company’s troubles continue, hundreds of experienced teachers, low on cash and desperate for work will influx other markets, most likely Korea and Taiwan where the highest wages for teaching outside of Japan are there to be found. But significant changes will not likely be felt until 2008.

For more details, follow the link http://www.japantoday.com/ and search Nova.