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Open Thread: GEOS Scuttlebutt

Discussion about GEOS continues here. Two recent developments within GEOS appear to be the sale of three schools in the UK and the planned closure of 84 schools in Japan between May and November.

News of the sale of the UK schools is here:

From Thursday April 1st 2010, the three GEOS UK schools in London, Brighton and Eastbourne plus ELS Paris are no longer part of the GEOS network. The four schools have been bought from GEOS Corporation in a management buy out by Wendy Teraoka (previously Regional Director, GEOS Europe) and Paul Clark (previously Principal of GEOS-LTC Eastbourne).

We will shortly be rebranding our three schools. ELS Paris will remain Executive Language Services (ELS).

The 3 UK schools will be Language Teaching Centres UK:

  • LTC London
  • LTC Brighton
  • LTC Eastbourne

The announcement of school closures in Japan can be found here. It appears that the pace of GEOS's restructuring has quickened as they plan to scale back to 185 schools.

Japan: 
geos

Comments

Nice to see they still have the UK sites on there! AND the Aussie sites!!!

I passed by a GEOS Japan kids classroom and it still had a map outside that showed all the UK and Australian schools. The schools that are about to close are probably still under orders to try to recruit students, too... I wonder when they'll actually be told the bad news, seeing as it is starting to leak out.

Friday for GEOS NA. :-)

To correct your statements about Aussie's losing entitlements. We DON'T.

The Oz Govt under its GEERS scheme will pay staff their long service entitlements, annual leave entitlements, unpaid wages and redundancy notice where employment is lost through insolvency.

Most of us were casual teachers and our annual leave was INCLUDED in our salaries. To be eligible for pro rata long service leave payment, we would have to have been continuously employed for a period of 8 years. So anyone who who has 8+ years will NOT lose long service entitlements.

This will take time to process, but we will not lose our entitlements.

The real "lose" out was the managers and mates getting out (ställen är i oroa , låta gå , berätta ingen annars) - with their money in their pockets - onto a relatively undamaged job market. leaving their staff with financial responsibilities, like rent and kids ,with no notice, no warning of collapse AND with - often - no money in the kick. And maybe one day some months in the future GEER might come up with some cash.

So where is Rita Chen and Uri Carnat of GEOS NA with a letter on this board promising no schools will close in North America this year? We know the GEOS managers love to troll on here, but they have seemed to shy away from any guarantees (or any comments) lately.

Besides Chen and Head Honcho, how about someone from Head Office make an appearance. How about some comments on the lies on the websites? You were all very loud a while back....why now the silence? The deceit of Special K too much even for you lot? Even you seeing through the bs?

I also noted (thaks to whoever posted the letter), that this letter from Chen and HH and the Europe manager came out on the same day as Oz went bust. They wasted NO time in trying to remove any association with Oz.

Eagerly awaiting the announcment on Friday. Maybe that's why everyone is so hush hush..even NA managers??

You won't here from NA managers or HH. They are silent for a reason...A very big reason.

"Tue, 04/13/2010 - 14:38 — Anonymous (not verified)
You won't here from NA
You won't here from NA managers or HH. They are silent for a reason...A very big reason."

you probably will not HEAR from them either.... NO WONDER you lost your job teaching language....

"Tue, 04/13/2010 - 14:38 — Anonymous (not verified)
You won't here from NA
You won't here from NA managers or HH. They are silent for a reason...A very big reason."

you probably will not HEAR from them either.... NO WONDER you lost your job teaching language....

Looks like there's a loose moose about the hoose!!! WARNING WARNING....
Grammar Police in attendance.

To Correct and Serve... carry on please gentlemen.

I love teaching and I love motorbikes. On my favourite motorcycling forum a moderator said it all:

RANT: Grammar Police Can Suck My Pencil
« on: June 30, 2006, 09:10:23 PM »

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Grammar Police,

Just in case you have not yet realized it, this is a casual Internet forum about motorcycles. It is not a scholarly journal, term paper, or a literary work of any importance. You are not being graded, and you are not my English teacher. It is simply a laid back online forum for people to hang out, post stuff, etc. Everyone should feel comfortable posting, right?

I personally find it obnoxious when someone "corrects" my spelling or grammar. You know what I mean, so why call me, or anyone else, on it? Are you trying to make them feel like a degenerate? Why do you feel the need to proove how smart you think you are? I'm not impressed.

Do you correct the speech of those around you? I hope not, because just like on here it only makes you come off as pompous and condescending. Almost no one - except maybe foreigners - speak true, proper English. Our dialect is casual. Get over yourself.

Would a quick read through / spell check / preview hurt before posting? Of course not. But is it really that important? No, it isn't.

If you want to be all anal about your own posts, that's great. Keep on keepin' on.

And if you don't like it, you can suck my pencil. Beeyotch.

Phaedrus

PS - G'head - Look it over for a typo or a spelling error, but I've got better things to do

.........................................................................................................................................

Mate, the poster isn't an English teacher but could anyone have put it better? Forum langiage is a language of its own.

To all yous grammer palice

GEOS is f&%^$%d (sic). gEOS is full of lyars. Geos is histry. Special K and his breed of low life is bye bye.

Where are all yous trolls? Have yous nothink to tell us.? Ok, then at least fix up my spell...at least do something worthwhile while you await the final crumble. Maybe go and take down all the posters showing over 500 schools world wyde...that ll give yous somethink to do. Why not even right a letter to agents telling them things are cool and GEos just restrukturing....mayeb a beter word for restukturing is 'collapsing',

I agree with 20:19's stance on pedantry in internet forums. However, this forum is largely populated by folks who make their living from teaching English, so they should be a tad more careful with the old lingo. This is especially true if they want people to take them seriously. That said, I think some people are being overly nit-picky.

"Dear Grammar Police,
...And if you don't like it, you can suck my pencil. Beeyotch.
"

your mistake was NOT a grammar mistake. just one of spelling and word usage. when (if) you move on to the sixth grade, your teacher will explain what grammar is all about.

until then, have a nice time playing with the other children in recess!

You want GEOS managers to tell you precisely when the school will close? I thought that that type of information comes from this blog. After all, who needs them to get accurate information about GEOS, right?

Not that I'm calling it a turn for the better and everything will be hunky dory from now on, but the money making system has finally been reduced to what it should have been all along; cover the SCHOOL'S costs (salaries & rent) and not concentrating on making Head Office profit. It is kind of worrying in that it does mean the individual schools (the remaining ones anyway) are on their own now, but the insane pressure on the managers is off comparatively...so long as we cover the basics, we're good and everyone gets paid.
Not that we believe Special K would help us. I, for one, would breathe a huge sigh of relief if he was GONE. I almost feel like the company could be saved if the idiot wasn't in charge of decision making, outside what flavor doughnuts to bring to the meetings.
It feels like this has bought me a little more time for getting out of dodge, in the very least.

I have to laugh. In a certain GEOS lobby one day, a poster went up with the teacher introductions "in their own words". Out of four teachers that were featured three had introduced themselves in carelessly written prose with both grammar and spelling mistakes. What was it - too busy to edit or just plain apathy?

And isn't it telling that the inept always stress about the "grammar police".

17:12 You must be a GEOS Manager that has nothing better to say on this forum and thus fills it with. I , but being late I really did not give a crap a. There are more, and there were several other posts that I saw earlier with spelling and syntax errors, but YOU never complained about them. Nor did I, since it is petty, immature (since most are just quick-typing sort of mistakes), and a huge waste of board space by playing Ms. Grammar for every single post.

Although some positng on here will go out of their way to re-direct the conversation away from the facts, we need to stick to the point. Where is Rita Chen and Uri Carnat and all there happy letters proclaiming "nothing is wrong" at GEOS-land? Would Rita Chen and Uri Carnat, VP of Super-duper Huge Massive Global Empire of GEOS North America like to put into writing that we, as teachers and staff at GEOS, are not going to lose are jobs this year? And students are not going lose their pre-paid tuition? Or is all a big secret, GEOS-style?

P.S. Why did you think I was a former GEOS teacher "who lost their job"? Strange, never said anything of the sort. GEOS manager, are you? Trying to figure out who is exposing your dirty laundry? Too bad, isn't it? :-) I STILL teach at GEOS, so that kind of shames you if you hired me...GEOS manager are really dumb!

1:30 post
Due to wireless cutting off while posting, going back to my older, unedited posting, some missing info in the last post...Should of read:

17:12 You must be a GEOS Manager that has nothing better to say on this forum and thus fills it with endless crap. I noticed the "hear/ here" error" also, but did not want to fill the board with simple corrections that a 5th-grader could figure out. And it was late. There are more important things to discuss on here than grammar...It is a GEOS RUMOUR board, NOT a "grammar board." See UsingEnglish.com, if that will settle your jollies.

Again, it seems we have GEOS managers back on the board (we always knew they were lurking), so how about it...How about you put into writing, December letter-style, that "everything is okay" at GEOS NA and nobody will lose jobs or money because now schools will close??? How about it? We are waiting for the famous "GEOS guarantees."

I agree.

14:38 Looks like a quick mistake. We have seen tons of them on here as of late as people debate, sometimes late into the night.

17:12 How could you deduce that this poster, who wrote all of three short sentences, was a teacher who you knew lost their job? Wow, I smell GEOS manager or HO rat on here...or maybe hear. Ha, ha!

It is interesting we haven't heard from any GEOS NA managers or VP sorts. They were on here before, but nothing as of late. Something must in the works. The silence is defeaning. Where are the excuses, the dismissals of rumours with no supporting facts, the efforts to shoot down anyone on here who posts inside info to warn other teachers and students?

Why is it that everyone who is not on the band wagon with ridiculing anyone and everyone, including teachers who are not in the same hemisphere, is ultimately considered a GEOS manager? How inane and adolescent of you if you think there is a "GEOS manager" lurking in every nook and cranny. It reminds me of McCarthyism - there is a dirty commie in every neighborhood. Get over the branding hysteria and refrain from wasting time with sophomoric investigative suppositions that make Inspector Clouseau look like a genius. Focus on what is real why don't you?

Paranoia strikes deep.

2:43 At least it wasn't Stalinism, Communism

I see the poster outing the GEOS managers as more tongue in cheek and somewhat trying to goad certain people into a response, which it seems to have done.. You got caught up in his/ her little trap, I would say. ;-)

Nice to see people on here at this time, making them up really late/ early in Japan or more likely from North America. Many of the teachers from my school have checked this board now. Of course, not all do it at work like I do because they are afraid of being monitored. If any actual managers are on here, all I would like to know is if I am going to have a job this year? I have seen a lot on here and most is true. I do not want to be screwed over like of other GEOS teachers, and told of my dismissal the day it happens...Like Australia. While GEOS managers jump off the train before it wrecks. I think that is fair.

So how about it?...Come on here and dismiss any GEOS NA closure this year once and for all. Put it in writing like the December letter from Rita Chen, Uri Carnat and Wendy T. It would be greatly appreciated by the teachers at my school that is for sure.

As for paranoia, well, the teachers who have seen this board at my school are getting uneasy. Not because of the whining but the facts; GEOS schools collapsing into bankruptcy in Australia, UK schools gone, Paris gone, etc, etc. And we get no response from our managers. Maybe a little bit of paranoia is a good thing.

Thanks.

2:48 Unfortunately, corruption, cronyism, incompetence and pure jelousy strike much deeper in the GEOS realm. Especially among managers who love to micromanage and impart their Castro-like ways on their staff, students, and the message...Only to see the ultimate power unravelling apart fast and for which they have no control over its outcome.

I, agree, a little paranoia is welcomed when it comes to GEOS, because for the most part the events actually come true. If anyone has worked for, or seen the inside of, GEOS schools/ corporation, they will under the rot and plain incompetence at all levels of the organization. Especially amongst Special K, his HO staff, and the GEOS school manager and VPs. But the end is near, therefore do not hold your breath any longer on Uri Carnat, Rita Chen or any of their gang of corrupt, incompetent buddies to provide any real input on this board. It won't happen.

Frankly, if I were a GEOS manager today, I would waste my time coming to this forum. I would see a bunch of scared chickens running around clueless, but expecting their heads to be lopped off at any moment. So what? What is the value of that? Any GEOS manager who would come here just to pick up on all the claptrap, is wasting time. That GEOS manager (at least if he/she is the school's designated manager; not an AC or OC has a good read on what is going on with the school. He will be looking at his spreadsheet and emails; not a blog site for answers.

Now, if I were a GEOS teacher, having spent time here scurrying around on the loony farm, I might seriously think about talking to someone at my school who could tell me what was happening up the road. Is there not one among you has a decent relationship with one manager (even an in-the-know AC or OC) who might give you an honest answer?

Come on now, this is not rocket science. Look at the numbers at your schools. Are they going down? Going up? Going up for the summer study/tours? Are homestay families still filling their homes with GEOS students? Are students being retained? Are they extending due to your efforts in the classroom?

Enough.

would NOT waste time....

4:36 Actually, GEOS managers HAVE been on here. I know of at least two from Canada, but to divulge anymore would put my job in jeopardy. Sorry, nit going to do that until I know for sure the house of cards is about to fall tomorrow. It is a small world at GEOS Canada, so someone could figure out who I am. We do not have much staff so it is not hard if I posted exactly which managers and who were on.

GEOS managers and "spreadsheets"? Ha! They would be lucky to open a first-year uni business textbook and actually read it. Come on, are you serious? More likely they are on the phone and e-mail, scheming and trying to sweet talk the agents who see right through their bs. Oh, and scamming teachers and staff for free overtime hours like always. GEOS managers and VPs, at least in Canada, go out of their way to control the message. See the recent HO letter about "do not tell the students" for an example. Corrupt companies do that.

P.S. At least manager I know does not like what is being posted on here and HAS been here, albeit a little less frequently now. I have heard his moans and groans, and he has bitched out at least one person here over this board (or a similar one). Back to work. Stay tunded.

Are students being retained? Are they extending due to your efforts in the classroom?

Enough.

Written like a true manager. LOL Who else would write "due to your efforts in the classroom"? The only thing keep GEOS alive in NA are the teachers, who are well liked by the students...The schools and managers are not.

Enough?

That would be convenient for some. Not going to happen, though.

Is there not one among you has a decent relationship with one manager (even an in-the-know AC or OC) who might give you an honest answer?

ACs are puppets to the managers in Canada. They are underqualified/ naive for the most part because that is exactly how managers want them. I know of at least a few that are right out of university. Current ACs do not talk much, but former ones talk a LOT. :-)

Cheers!

I called a GEOS manager in Canada about updating us on the situation. I was either ignored or told "he is in a meeting" several times. No follow up.

Don't expect honesty out them or for them to say anything now.

Any GEOS manager who would come here just to pick up on all the claptrap, is wasting time.

Oh, you would be surprised. Head Honchos in GEOS NA, too.

Most teachers would not know year-on-year student numbers and trends because a) teachers teach and do not care about the business-side for the most part, b) teachers are generally no business-educated or minded to really delve into an analysis of what is going on, c) managers insure teacher turnover is high, both from their attitudes and incompetence (most teachers aren't around long enough to see paterns).

ACs might and managers for sure. Front desk staff, too. From my contacts, several Canadian schools are way down and others can figure this out by knowing a little competitive intelligence..Agents, associations, Facebook, etc.

5L45 Narcissistic head honchos in GEOS NA. But that is just a view from another GEOS manager. Yes, we ARE on here and looking for other jobs at the moment. we are not all bad.

Though all on here would like to see the postings for key positions. This only a sampling from TESL Canada (abbreviated), but there are many more on Craigslist and others. People are leaving, and many at non-teaching positions where they have inside info of what is really happening.

March 31, 2010
GEOS Language Academy – Ottawa is looking for ESL Instructors for our current CEP Program. GEOS is looking for instructors who can start as early as April 5th, 2010 in our ESL Program.

This went up March 31, 2010 for teachers as early as April 5th!!! Obviously this was not a planned increase in staff. I heard two teachers suddenyl quit.

Cathy Tat (Ms.) She is pretty new, too.
Academic Coordinator
GEOS Language Academy - Ottawa
207 Queen Street, Suite 100, Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1P 6E5
Tel: (613) 236-9770 Fax: (613) 236-8709
Email:
Web: www.geosottawa.com

March 17, 2009

GEOS Language Academy - MontrealAcademic Coordinator

The training for the position begins on May 24, 2010. Please send your CV on or before April 2, 2010, to the current Academic Coordinator at .

Title: Academic Coordinator – GEOS Language Academy, Toronto
GEOS Language Academy, Toronto campus is looking to hire a full-time Academic Coordinator.

Closing date: March 12, 2010

To apply: If you meet the qualification of this position and wish to apply, please send you resume and cover letter to

Sorry, guys. The posting is missing some of my thoughts...Here is how it should have started. Maybe had a few too many beers at lunch. ;-)

I thought all on here would like to see the postings for key positions at GEOS Canada. This only a sampling from TESL Canada (abbreviated), but there are many more on Craigslist and others. strong>

GEOS school managers send sales/enrollment reports to Japan via email with an attached EXCEL spreadsheet. It does not take much education to know how to input data into an EXCEL template and then attach it to an Outlook email.

To the person who said, "Written like a true manager. LOL Who else would write "due to your efforts in the classroom"? "

Are the neural synapses not firing in your brain? The lights may be going out at GEOS, but you, apparently, have gotten the jump on GEOS. Look. Here is your lesson, "teacher". Students stay/continue if they are happy with the quality of the product - including the teaching. That is universal. You do not have to be a GEOS manager to know that. Furthermore, you missed the point, which is this: if students ARE extending, that tells you there is a longer life expectancy at GEOS. Why are you so dense? Oh, I forgot - you work at GEOS.

7:10 and 7:19

GEOS school managers send sales/enrollment reports to Japan via email with an attached EXCEL spreadsheet. It does not take much education to know how to input data into an EXCEL template and then attach it to an Outlook email.

You said it! Yes, it doesn't take much of an education to be a GEOS manager , now, does it? LOL And thank you for coming out of the woodwork, dear GEOS manager. Only a manager would have that deep inside knowledge to be able to tell us about their daily/ weekly duties and respond in such an emotional way to those who challenge their authority or competence. LOL I do not know of any teachers who would know of the daily and weekly reports that go out to Japan, nor would get so upset about a spreadsheet post on this board.. But GEOS managers would, and it is the end of the work day in North America. :-)

Sadly, what I was talking about earlier flew rigtht over your head, in regards to proper financial analysis like a business manager would conduct in a proper company .. Just because you get to do the scretarial work of "inputing numbers into a template" and "attaching files to e-mail" does not make you qualify you for even a basic business management position in another company. Please enrol in Finance 101 and then come back and post. There is a very good reason you have to "input data and send it to Japan"...You obviously are not trusted to do anything yourself in regards to the short- and long-term analysis, assessment, and action on financial matters concerning your school.

7:19 "The quality of the product" doesn't just come from teachers. Sure, teachers are critical as they are frontline and are the core of the service being delivered...BUT, when you have shitty managers who screw everything up, well, you cannot expect much from the teachers. When you have teacher turnover at GEOS Canada schools higher than a Wal-Mart, then you can't expect students to be happy. When you stuff 20 students in a broom closet called a "classroom" with no air conditioning in the dead of summer, and with a teacher who doesn't even have the proper books, well, you cannot expect good results. When you constantly screw the teachers out of "FREE hours" as in extra upnpaid work/ overtime, SPRs that are endless and not paid for (as you managers are so gleeful about), you cannot expect morale to be high...When you lie and hide any impending gloom and doom like Australia from the teachers, but take off just before the collapse, other teachers hear about it...Isn't democracy and the Internet such wonderful thing?

You see, dear GEOS manager, it is NOT all about the teachers. And the students I know understand this. They like the teachers, but hate the fake managers and the agents that schemed with them to send them to the school, many times pre-paying 6 or more months of tuition. It is catching up with you, dear GEOS...Enjoy the collapse. And keep blaming the teachers...That will get you far.

7:43

WELL SAID. Laughed my as$ off about the secretarial skills of inputting Excel data and attaching it to e-mail. LOL Poor GEOS manager has no real financial education understand what we are talking about. I have met more than a few that couldn't even comprehend what a financial ratio was (1st year, intro finance course). So forget trying to convince them because it definitely does fly right over their heads.

If you were a GEOS manager you wouldn't waste time on this site. If you were a GEOS teacher, you would go talk to someone or figure things out for yourself. Since you are neither, however. No problems coming to the site - for what purpose, one might ask? Apparently just to tell GEOS employees how dense they are.

GEOS managers are dense...We, as teachers, have others word.

You know, several of us at the school wer are at in Canada are thinking of exposing some interesting things about GEOS Canada on this board. We call it in Canada "dropping some bombs." But we will wait until we know we have another job in place because they are not going to be happy.

And for those of you who do not think GEOS management of Canada is not on this board, think again. They are...Certain posts are so obvious they are from GEOS managers.

I know of one former GEOS NA manager who has been on here. Good guy. Hope he enlightens us again with some comments.

If you were a GEOS teacher, you would go talk to someone

We HAVE tried to ask questions...GEOS managers are not talking. My manager blew up at even a hint of the happenings around the world in regards to GEOS. Trust me, it is the silent treatment right now so something is defnitely going on.

Friday.

We HAVE tried to ask questions...GEOS managers are not talking. My manager blew up at even a hint of the happenings around the world in regards to GEOS. Trust me, it is the silent treatment right now so something is defnitely going on.

It's time for these managers to start acting like managers and to provide leadership and direction. If they are unbale to act like managers then they must move on. If they are under instructions to 'remain silent' from Head Honcho, then time to move on. To simply sit in the 'big chair' and not act like a manager is a waste of time.....move on. If you cannot be effective in your role, move on! GET OUT.....you're a waste of a salary. Get out of the broom closet and face the situation. If you want to remain in it, then face it!

There has been a lot written about the qualification of NA managers. OK, so it may be true they may not have the qualifications or the experience, but they applied for the job and it was offered to them and they accepted it. And now they have to ACT as a manager. You wanted the job, now act like a manager or move out.

10:10 Couldn't agree more. Unfortunately the manager in Canada. which is my only experience, seem more like used car salespeople* than anything else. So you really cannot expect much, especially under the control of the master used car dealer Special K.

* I do not mean to demonize used car sales people because we know they are not all evil, but I couldn't think of a more appropriate stereotype to reference at this time.

"And for those of you who do not think GEOS management of Canada is not on this board, think again. They are...Certain posts are so obvious they are from GEOS managers.
"

like wise for posts from Union hacks.....!

GEOS Low Life Credo:

If it is a rumor, believe it.
If it is anything else, a GEOS manager did it.
If it is paranoia, embrace it.
If it is incomprehensible, a GEOS manager said it, because everyone knows that people who teachr at GEOS are as bright as a penlight.

Union Hack Credo

flame those that are hard working.
demean those who lead.
call everyone who disagrees with you a liar, a pyscho, or a pedophile.
suck up to the press every chance you get.
..and wait for the union dues to roll in

Take a trip down memory lane and have a look at my post titled "Why GEOS Is A Dysfunctional Family". You might notice that I took care not to let anyone off the hook. Your whole organization smells like a rotting fish carcass on a rack.

They (NA) most certainly read these posts! So let's see if the earlier post will get them to do anything or if they will continue to cower in their offices. I will bet on the latter...simply no backbone.

With such a negative image as they have at this point in time, these managers should be dong all they can to overcome the damage. Get the facts out for the world to see. Head Honcho (Carnat) and Chen should be furiously writing PR statements for the world to see. If all is cool, then put your name to statements and release it to the world.

Right now a feeble post on this site attempting to show that all is OK will not appease the 'vultures' To say that you are the laughing stock of the industry would be an understatement.

Does anyone know if all of NA is under the control of the guy in Montreal now, or does he only have control of Canada?

11:25 bye default because of Mike leaving in NYC, he seems to have control. And if you look at all the online GEOS NA sites, it seems to place the "regional" office there. But this is probably only a temporary move by Special K, since Uri in Montreal tried so desperately to be the big honcho and got shot down. Look at his Linked In account and you will see he claimed to be the big guy for a few months, until he was put in his place.

GEOS is so screwed up that the managers will give themselves any title to feel special. Uri still the school
Manager of Montreal, which is a broom closet school. So VP doesn't mean much.

And to the other insider who knows GEOS NA management has been on this board: you are right, they have...and still are.

Yes, I meant "by" not "bye"...grammar gurus.

They sure are all here! Here is test for them: Take your hand and feel the middle of your back. Can you feel your spine? I guess you cannot as you are all 'spineless'

Managers and head office staff at NOVA lied until the very day it fell, and then kept on lying after.

GEOS managers and head office staff lied about Australia.

Why the hell would any thinking person "think about talking to someone at my school who could tell me what was happening up the road"? You are an obvious stooge from your company.

To those who are still on board the sinking ship called GEOS, get the hell off now before you sink with the ship. Smart people would've been looking for new jobs last August/September when Japanese managers were paid late back in the home country. If they didn't get a new job, they sure as hell were sending out multiple resumes weekly when Australia went down. Now, what is it... Australia, Turkey, NZ, UK, S.Africa. France, 1/3 of Japanese schools and now rumors of North America closing? ...and the turd above is advising people to "talk to someone at your school who can tell you what is happening up the road"? W.T.F.

If you work at GEOS, GET OUT NOW! If you are a student at GEOS, GET OUT NOW! That is the ONLY sound advice.

Agreed. To teachers at GEOS Calgary, make sure you ask for your pay this week.

and the turd above is advising people to "talk to someone at your school who can tell you what is happening up the road"? W.T.F.

The posting above yours made no reference to 'talking to someone at your school' The posting above yours referred to NA managers as spineless...hardly a 'turd' and hardly a GEOS stooge!

And while we're at it, has the school in Dublin closed as it was left out in the cold in the buy out of Europe?

Right. If you can see the writing on the wall, then update your resume and hit the trails.

For the language purists who love errors and for the 'vultures'. It's taken form the Montreal website.

Yasumitsu Hashimoto, alias Yasu, is at GEOS as a register, and he enrolls new students. His major task is to prepare necessary documents for the students to start on requested dates. It has passed a few years in Montreal, and this interesting multi-cultural city made him decide to settle down here from his country, Japan. This city has completely different face in summer and winter, and he hopes GEOS students enjoy amazing moment through the year in the city and at GEOS Montreal.

If you work at GEOS, GET OUT NOW! If you are a student at GEOS, GET OUT NOW! That is the ONLY sound advice.

Excellent discussion so far - thanks to all the posters. But this has to be the best advice given yet.

"If you work at GEOS, GET OUT NOW! If you are a student at GEOS, GET OUT NOW! That is the ONLY sound advice.
"

"Right. If you can see the writing on the wall, then update your resume and hit the trails."

Riddle me this Batman. how would wishing the fall of GEOS, or helping it along by anonymously advising those gamefully employed by GEOS to QUIT, help, in any way, those teachers who have already lost their jobs, or those students who had lost their place of higher education....??

wtf, indeed!

A truly jake point, the moment we heard of Japanese staff not being paid on time late 2009 it was a signal for us to put our hats on our heads, kiss the DOS goodbye, get on our bikes and get outta GEOS. Companies rarely recover from wage payment problems.
'Course youl'll remember the way that Australian GEOS management kept the issue quiet. LJ was on the ball, though.

......students who had lost their place of higher education....?? HIGHER EDUCATION.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I remember the exact same announcement from Saruhashi 6 weeks before Nova finally stopped circling the toilet bowl and was sucked into bankruptcy oblivion. The were closing 25% of branches and restructuring. It was just a bluff to buy him more time.

The debate is over.
The end of Geos approaches.
If you listen carefully you can hear it coming!

Anyone silly enough to not start looking for alternative employment is just

STUPID STUPID STUPID!

What weirds me out the most is how they've told the staff about the 84 closures but they are not allowed to tell any of the students, even those in the schools that are closing.

..but do!

I've told all my students so far this week. At the end of class, I just say, hey, if managers or whoever calls you and asks you to renew or to get money, don't do it. They're going to close this school soon.

Students aren't exactly happy about it, so it's kind of a thankless, rough thing for me to be doing, especially when there are managers right outside the classroom, but... I have to, you know?

Also I've refused to interview prospective visitors. Cause like... wait, why are we interviewing this person and trying to get them to sign up for 6 months of classes.....? Yeah, not gonna do it. Actually, OK, I'll go in there, but... look you don't want me in that interview room.

Any other teachers have real moral issues with what's going on here? To me, 'just following orders' is a pretty lame excuse...

How have your students been reacting? How has your manager reacted? Have you been reprimanded/punished at all?

"What weirds me out the most is how they've told the staff about the 84 closures but they are not allowed to tell any of the students, even those in the schools that are closing.
"

probably because 84 closures does not mean 100% closures....and that in an English conversation school, the students should probably hear that information from the person they negotiated the contract with... not their teachers... have you EVER met a teacher who did not editorialize??

The managers aren't allowed to tell any of the students either... Even the ones who are renewing.

Geos is Going down the tube, way before they close any of the 84 schools, Teachers and staff you have been warned, Get out and look after yourself, however the way the eikawa industry is in Japan it may well be out of the frypan it to the fire. Most Eikawa outfits (I wont call them businesses because they are far from it) are out to profit from staff and students, mostly staff bt not paying them what they should. The whole industry deserves to fold to teach all the corrupt employees both Japanese and Non Japanese who should at least be reasonable and Fair and Understanding.
I hope it changes. My advise if you can work for yourself. It is MUCH BETTER!

The students I've told haven't been happy about it. But also not altogether surprised, and of course they ask the questions we're all asking on here: will it go bankrupt? when will the school close? etc etc.

The various revolving managers who show up randomly don't seem to be aware I've told anyone. They may well catch on though. But whatever.

To 22:46-
yeah 84 closures is more like 1/3rd. Not 100%. And I agree it'd be better for managers or someone other than me to tell the students. However, the managers are not going to do that, and in fact have directly told teachers not to divulge this information. So it's up to me. And maybe I do posit that the company has a fair chance of going bankrupt soon. If they (whoever 'they' are) wanted to avoid this situation, they shouldn't have told managers / teachers about the 84 school closings without any plan to tell students. To me this is ... well I'll be polite and say the company seems disorganized and lacking in management skills.

What I really don't get is why they'd expect any kind of company-loyalty from employees that they've just told will be laid off. Well actually they said "teachers will be re-assigned", but ... how do you re-assign students when you've just closed 1/3rd of the branches? That's about 50% more teachers than you need. Fortunately I have other things I can fall back on, but it's insulting to us to just say "teachers will be re-assigned". A couple of em, maybe.

22:46 spoken like true GEOS manager who is frustrated they cannot control the message. Funny how we were being told that it was teachers responsibilty to get students to renew...their fault if students do not renew and cause GEOS to crash and burn, in their words. Well, then it is our responsibility to inform the students they might lose their money. Sorry, will lose their money.

Please, as teachers we have a moral duty to not screw the students. Make sure they know, all over the world. We must protect them.

Any word from those in the know about Canadian schools? Management will not say whether we will or will not have a job soon. We can't find Rita Chen either.

Staff at branches in Japan were not supposed to know about the school closures yet. Apparently, Big K's nephew who works as a manager at one of the schools (maybe Tamachi or Machida, can't remember exactly) "accidentally" emailed the closure list to all schools (either because he's a duckwit or the guy actually has a bit of moral fibre in him from his alternative genetic donor).

I actually wondered if it was an accident because it was so early and everyone was so shocked. Normally it's more of a progressive shock.

Nuts, but expected from a dim-witted company like GEOS. It will surely screw them more as students and agents hear about it.

Pack your bags, GEOS Calgary teachers. And all should know there is some slimy maneouvering by GEOS Canada HH to close Toronto so the students can be relocated to Toronto to benefit his operations.

Meant to say relicated to Montreal, where VP/ school manager/ HH is located. He wants it fir power reasons, as GEOS Vancouver still makes more money.

So, why are people hanging around here? Do they have to be hit over the head with a sledgehammer? If you trust what you read here, then get out of GEOS now. Don't wait, don't hesitate, don't second guess yourself. I mean really why ARE you waiting around here?

It was said, "students who had lost their place of higher education....?? HIGHER EDUCATION.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Uh, high on what?

We are waiting on any news since some have not secured another job yet. There is more info on here about our employment / unemployment than GEOS will ever provide. And we all need to help get the word out to those that just find this board.

And it is a good place to let off some steam about the way GEOS has treated us and its students.

@12:55, you have some some major-league cojones (きんたま), man. You're a good man.

You said, "22:46 spoken like true GEOS manager who is frustrated they cannot control the message. "

How is it that you say that? You think that he is a GEOS manager, or parroting the GEOS manager refrain? I didn't feel that at all.

No word or reply from Montreal Uri yet. He is usually pretty yappy. Something must be up.

So Kuso-noki got away with it in Australia then (my highlights):

‘Profitable’ Oz Geos collapses
RYAN EMERY

Reports from Australia

IT SEEMS that profitability and protective government regulations may have led to the collapse of Geos Australia’s seven colleges earlier this year, according to a former Geos employee.

Gary Maserow, former regional co-ordinator for Geos’s Australian colleges, was reported in Adelaide’s Sunday Mail as saying that Geos Australia was a cash cow for the Japanese parent company. Mr Maserow, who resigned last October, said the majority of Geos Australia’s colleges were profitable, and there was ‘enormous pressure’ to send profits to Japan. ‘Japan demanded and demanded,’ he said.

Maserow dismissed suggestions that the recession had contributed to the collapse. English Australia executive director Sue Blundell said there was also speculation that Geos Australia could be pushed to the edge because students would be offered courses elsewhere under the Commonwealth Education Services for Overseas Students Act.

Geos Japan has not responded to questions from the Gazette.

Geos Australia’s problems were highlighted by the Western Australian state government several months before administrators were called in. Brad Viney, the Department of Education services manager of higher and international education regulation, said an audit of the state’s St Mark’s College revealed insufficient capital. ‘We saw the accounts and asked them questions about the concerns we had,’ said Mr Viney, who added that he had contacted the Federal Government and recommended the rest of Geos Australia’s colleges be investigated. Western Australian state minister for education Liz Constable also contacted the Federal minister for education, warning of the concerns raised about Geos’ financial viability.

By the end of January, Geos Australia had called in administrators Ernst and Young, who closed the colleges within a week. Ms Blundell said it was hard to ensure that foreign-owned colleges could be held to the same standards as locally owned ones, and that it was not illegal for a company to send profits offshore. ‘Corporate failure is not exclusive to education, but what is important is that we have systems to look after the students,’ she said.

Ms Blundell said Australia had tough regulations, but Victoria and New South Wales had not dedicated the resources necessary to cover a sector that had been booming in recent years.

Former New South Wales minister Bruce Baird released the findings of his enquiry into the Australian international education sector in mid-February. ‘We’re going to see a lot happening in the international education arena,’ Ms Blundell said.

(from today's April edition of the ELT gazette)

Special K has 'taken the money and run' He will get away with it, as he as done with New Zealand, as with Europe, Cape Town and soon with NA. Can't say the same for Asia as these are all basket schools anyway relying on loans to survive (except perhaps for Singapore)

Earlier post suggested that the nephew who released info on Japan school closures was either a duckwit or had some moral fibre. There ain't one shred of moral fibre in this family, so I opt for the former.

Soon Friday, and time for the 'announcement'

Is that Friday Japan time or NA time?

Comedy of Errors
Scene 1, Act 1
An inn outside Perth
Time: The Present
Characters:
Ms B.............., an elegant Australian executive
Mr K.........., a suave, handsome, international business man

Ms B. "Ooooooooh, it's so hard, Mr K!"

Mr K. " I know, I know, but that's the kind of guy I am."

GEOS exits stage left

The Oz money went to Mizuho bank. Clearing debts.

heee heee heeee! Im giggling like a little school girl!

this man says, he likes hot dogs, and eats them every day.

You're traveling another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but a mind; a journey into the wonderous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop. The Twilight Zone.

I used to work at a NA GEOS school and can verify that they've long survived on a day to day basis. Rent was often unpaid - it was routine for GEOS to pay late fees on the rent and be threatened with eviction. Whoever was nominally in charge of the school didn't matter - there was always someone sent over from Japan who really ran things and communicated with Japan Head office, often to the detriment of the school. Health insurance premiums for teachers would go unpaid in order to meet the month's financial goals. Basic supplies like pens, markers, paper would be denied. We often did not have a budget for stamps and could not send materials to prospective students who called in. At the same time, however, we would be told to reserve a "Presidential Suite" for Kusunoki when he visited. I'm sure the reservations staff at the local Marriott got a kick out of that request! Head Office used to send over a strange lady to "help" the schools but she would just hole up in the office, scowl and generally poison the school atmosphere. Of course, the school was expected to pay her salary when she was there. There was no 401K, retirement system or decent benefits of any kind. I don't know why some have stayed for so long other than it could be Stockholm Syndrome.

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