Shawn's blog

CBS News is all gaga over how awesome Japanese education is given how it stresses the importance of respect and how much they accomplish with so little is spent on it.

How do they do so much with so little? By investing in top-notch teachers.

"Teachers are given a good deal of respect; they're expected to devote their life," said Catherine Lewis, distinguished research scholar at Mills College. "The whole system is set up to emphasize the development of teachers."

As of October 1st, Interac will cease to exist, being bought out by Advantage Partners. This comes from the General Union, which cites an August 24 official government gazette containing the notice of the buyout. More about the buyout can be found on ESL Cafe and Hoofin's blog.

When I saw this story in the Japan Times for a webisode series called "English Teachers" about the antics of teaching at Be Yes! School of English, I thought it would be a live version of Charisma Man.

GEOS North America Announced on September 10 that it has signed a letter of intent [PDF] for the acquisition of all 12 GEOS schools in North America by Florida-based Open Hearts International College.*

Given all the talk of the JET Programme on the chopping block, I've been thinking about the discussion it has generated. The consensus seems to be that the program should be saved since it's a great soft power tool and exchange program for Japan.

Citing a tough financial situation, Hiroshima-based David English House has closed its doors as of September 1 and filed for bankruptcy.

While some of its schools will close, a number of its teachers will go independent and take over existing contracts and keep other schools open. For the most part, it sounds it will be business as usual for its students.

Like many readers here, zakzak wonders about the odd combination of restaurant companies and English conversation schools.

This comes via who quotes a reliable source:

All ex nova employees who received part of their unpaid wages after the bankruptcy (most of you should have received 80% of what was owed to you). The trustees are in the process of organizing a further payment of part of the remaining unpaid amount. If you have changed your address since the last payment you will need to contact the trustees and inform them.

With Rakuten and Fast Retailing making English the first language in their offices, the says that it has given English conversation schools a much needed boost:

Nova and GEOS are under new management. The new boss is Kobe-based food and beverage importer and distributor Hanshin Shuhan. According to the Yomiuri shimbun, Foodys, the current parent company of Nova and GEOS, is to hand over its 50.98% share in the eikaiwa schools to Hanshin Shuhan by the end of August.