Nova RIP

Nova has officially filed for bankrupcy. Needless to say there are many disgruntled students that forked out thousands for lessons that will not be taught. As teachers many years ago, we used to hate how the staff were trained to sell people dreams that weren't generally attainable ie. english conversation proficiency, they would easily slip into sociopath sales mode and put some unemployed dilbert into debt to get their precious branch numbers up. Not all staff were that blatantly heartless, just most... Around 4,400 english teachers have also found themselves unemployed and unpaid. There's a great (unfortunately unembeddable) NHK news item from yesterday here, and of all the crappy anti-Nova blog art being posted on Let's Japan etc. the only mildly humourous (and barely postworthy) were these:

Nova

Like so many others, I came to Japan to work as an english conversation instructor for what was then the biggest employer of foreign nationals in Japan, Nova. There were evident dodgy business practices, and daily frustrations with administration, but for my 2.5 years that I worked there, I learned a lot and had a great time. Seems that the bubble has really burst for them now, even my old school has closed.. :(

This video was from a month or two ago but the most recent rumblings have included: sudden school closures nationwide, the co-founder and highest level foreigner resigning, the losing of ALT dispatch contracts, teachers salaries being withheld and in some cases, rent not being paid on their apartments to the point where they are being evicted etc etc..