Interac is EATING YOUR LUNCH!

[shinyplum]

Welcome. Thank you for reading this thread. If you are interested by what you find written here, please feel free to post a comment. The title of this thread is meant to be hyperbolic and attention grabbing.

They are eating my lunch. Now it seems like they will be eating some prospective JETs' lunch, too.
I am one of 89 PFTs(Part Time Foreign Teacher)recently DISMISSED by the Kanagawa Board of Education (BOE). As per the Education Law of Japan (Article 28.2),we had direct contracts with our schools' principals. The Kanagawa BOE refused to allow their principals to recontract with us. The Kanagawa BOE has decided that our service to public education (some of us have held positions in Kanagawa High Schools for 15 years!)and the skills, experience and dedication we brought to our work are not as valuable as the 1.6 million yen they are saving by going with Interac. That is less than 16 thousand American dollars for the second largest prefecture in Japan.


The Kanagawa BOE has recently decided Interac would be a better fix for ALL their English instruction needs. That means Interac will be taking over the JET positions in Kanagawa starting from this summer. Interac is a bottom-feeding lowest-bidder with a shameful record of labour law abuse and high employee turnover due to issues like non-payment. You can learn more about Interac at www.nambufwc.org/issues/alt/ Search for "Interac". Did you know that Interac has 220 Boards of Education in Japan? The English language newspapers and online classifieds are awash with their advertisements. Basically, any "Native English Speaker" will do, it seems (recently, it seems that even non-native speakers will do in a pinch!). They represent THE largest threat to the JET programme. If you were rejected by the JET programme, odds are that you selected Interac BOEs for all of your choices!



If you are sorry that you won't be able to live in Yokohama and you care about the insidious erosion of the JET program by illegal outsourcing (it violates Japan's Standard Education Law AND Labour Dispatch Law), please send emails and letters of polite protest to the Kanagawa BOE!:

Kanagawa Board of Education
33 Nihon Odori
Naka-ku, Yokohama
Japan
231-8059

You can mark your letters "Attn: KITAMURA-SAN" or "STOP OUTSOURCING PUBLIC EDUCATION".

Or, you might want to try their telephone number (in Japan) 045-210-1111 (ext.--"naisen"--8261) or FAX 045-210-8922.

You can simply let them know that as a supporter of the JET programme, you'd like the Kanagawa BOE to back off the plan to slide Interac into place.

There has been little outcry over this issue because the BOEs operate as little fiefdoms. Japanese English teachers don't want to work with these outsourcing companies, PTAs are being alerted and mobilised, and JETs seem to be unconcerned about the continuation of the programme that has given them so much.

Here is your chance to actually participate in a social issue that affects you as a foreigner in Japan: "Gai-atsu": Outside pressure. Foreign pressure.

Let the Kanagawa BOE know that the rest of the world thinks they suck, too.

Thank you for your kind attention.
Shinyplum

[Jexebel]

Except that placement choice doesn't affect acceptence. I understand that you're upset but try appealing to people's sympathy and not scaremongering. Yes interac is taking quality positions and reducing them to underpaid drone work. Yes this trend is growning and threatning other jobs. That should be enough to get people's attention.

[Codewolf]

Actually what this person says is fairly accurate. Interac has been gobbling up foreign teacher and JET cities over the past few years. Leading to fewer JETs needed. On top of that Interac has been claiming many of the 'choice' spots to be leaving the JETs (fewer than there used to be) with assignments that are far less than 'choice'

[genkigirl1]

Sorry to hear that OP. Sign of the times though and only going to get worse. Yes it sucks but... this is happening in ALL job sectors in Japan not just English teaching.

I would advise you not to post the email address on BD though for various reasons. If people want it, they can PM you for it.

[shinyplum]

The mailing address for the Kanagawa Board of Education is as follows:
Kanagawa Board of Education
33 Nihon Odori
Naka-ku, Yokohama
Japan
231-8059

You can mark your letters "Attn: KITAMURA-SAN" or "Attn: HAYASHI-SAN" or "STOP OUTSOURCING PUBLIC EDUCATION".

Alternately, you might want to try their telephone number (in Japan) 045-210-1111 (ext.--"naisen"--8261) or FAX 045-210-8922.

You can simply let them know that AS A PROSPECTIVE JET, you'd like the Kanagawa BOE to back off the plan to slide INTERAC into place.

There has been little outcry over this issue because the BOEs operate as little fiefdoms. Japanese English teachers don't want to work with these outsourcing companies, PTAs are being alerted and mobilised, and the JETs who are being phased out have had their kick at the can and could probably give a damn about the next guy to fill the job.

Here is your chance, before you even get here, to actually participate in a very important part of your MISSION. "Gai-atsu": Outside pressure. Foreign pressure.

Let the Kanagawa BOE know that the rest of the world thinks they suck, too.

[triforcekt]

I have a friend in Kawasaki who is very upset her school is phasing out JET for Interac. All the best places (Osaka, Kanagawa, Sapporo, Nagoya) are cutting ties with JET and the only thing that's going to be left are positions in BFE. How sad.

[Elly]

I was tempted to put Kawasaki as a preference on my application, since Kawasaki is my sister city and one of my friends from university is now a JTE in Kanagawa-ken. I guess it's a good thing I didn't put it as one of my 3 prefs afterall.

Sorry to hear about your situation shinyplum.

[shinyplum]

If you are sorry, let the Kanagawa BOE (see address above) know what a miserable lot of sots they are being. Cheers.

[Chococat]

Still haven't heard anything definate from people in Sapporo, Nagoya, or Osaka yet. Is that really going to happen this year, or maybe next year?

[genkigirl1]

Shinyplum, why do you think JETs are better than teachers from haken companies?

[Airion]

I'm willing to bet JET has a more rigorous screening process than Interac, so it makes sense that JETs will generally be better quality. If the ALT job was just for the purposes of English teaching, then perhaps it wouldn't matter. Interac ALTs are quite likely to have more experience. However, the job is more about international exchange, and JETs fresh from their homecountries will do a better job at that than cheap but stale Interac ALTs who may have been in Japan for quite some time.

[ghostdust]

Who the hell works for Interac anyway? I barely see it advertised and it's rarely talked about on forums like these except about how bad it is.

[oki res]

Still haven't heard anything definate from people in Sapporo, Nagoya, or Osaka yet. Is that really going to happen this year, or maybe next year?

I hope its next year because of course I chose Kanagawa, Osaka and Aichi as my preferences. Oh well.

[genkigirl1]

Airion, I am sure you'll make a fine JET with that attitude. Take a look at what the OP has said - some teachers have been there 15 years in that area. What you have just said in your post is that those people are stale though have more experience and JETs would do a better job. Not all schools want fresh off the boats monkeys. Problem is, most schools boards don't have the money to hire people who know and care about education let alone keep them.

[Airion]

I suppose I can imagine that some schools would be perfectly happy taking the option more geared toward English education itself, especially if it's cheaper anyway. Can't say I think it's the best idea, but unfortunately it doesn't surprise me.

In any case, for whichever BOE is willing to take me, I'll be happy to do my sarugaku.

EDIT: I should say, it doesn't surprise me that some schools really do take to the idea that any foreigner with a pulse can teach English, and that they're all pretty much the same. Unfortunately the only practical change some administrators will see themselves is the improved bottom line.

[genkigirl1]

And if you wish to stay in Japan after JET, I am sure you will change your tune on many of the issues that are being presented here.

[Airion]

And if you wish to stay in Japan after JET, I am sure you will change your tune on many of the issues that are being presented here.

Yes, it's like all those congressmen who get elected on promises of only serving one or two terms to stay close to the people. Then when that second term comes to end, it's "well, actually..." I don't doubt I have much of the same syndrome!

[genkigirl1]

Well at least you can admit it! It's pretty rough in Japan for people with qualifications and years of experience to find a job actually. They want to be paid what they are worth but schools here just don't do that. Hence why the OP is in the situation they are. It sucks and it's horrible. And it's a prime reason why English education in Japan is a joke.

[ippollite]

you know, the more i hear about them, the more interested in working for them i become. You might be getting paid 50,000 yen a month less, but judging by the two interac employees for hama boe, it doesnt seem that bad a gig. Plus you really do get to work in the nice cities and arent stuck out in bumfuck inaka which is nice. Yokohamas a real coup for them i reckon. Itll certainly encourage people to either leave their shitty placement for the glitz and glamour. Itll also encourage those of us with a year or so left on our contracts to quit jet and set oursleves up for a couple more years living and working (and leeching - its true) in japan. Hey interac, if you get okinawa too look me up next year. Ill be well up for it.

[granite]

Mormon missionaries work for Interac, that's who.

600 of the 1000 Interac employees are trained Mormon missionaries from Brigham Young University, the Mormon owned university. So it makes you wonder if they are more interested in getting converts than teaching English.

Further, Interac is owned by the Mormon Church. The Chairman of Interac even has his MBA degree from Brigham Young University.

All Mormons have to tithe 10% of their salary to the church or they will be excommunicated.

With 600 Mormon ALTs earning 3,000,000 yen a year, the tithing revenue is 180,000,000 yen. Or about $1.8 million US dollars a year (depending on the exchange rate).

And it is all from illegal jobs using fake dispatch contracts that violate education law in Japan. Go Mormon Church!

If some Mormon ALTs would spill their guts that would be great. I doubt if they are all that happy about having to give up 10% of their salary.

[Airion]

Granite, using that as an argument is complete BS. Mormons are entirely free to form companies, join companies Mormans have formed, and support the church that they believe in. Mormans are free to be Mormans. What happened to respecting other religions? Is a BOE supposed to make hiring decisions based on an employee's religion? Out of all people, Mr. Union should say "no."

[constant_sorrow]

I now work for Interac. A lot of Interac people are ex-JETs, so they don't really care to discuss it on forums like these. We get paid less than JETs, but what can you do if you want to still be an ALT in Japan. Plus, it's a convenient and centralized way to find an ALT job, especially if you want to relocate to another part of japan, but not sure where. If all the BOEs hired directly, it would be a pain to find out who's hiring and where, and have to go there looking. But if you're like me, a JET reject, living in Kanto wanting to move to a more distant part of japan, it's nice to secure a job in my current area before I relocate to where the position is.

[Airion]

You're surely in an interesting position, constant_sorrow. I would imagine at least in your case, your BOE is getting more than it's money's worth. What about other people employed through Interac? Do you think it's the right move by a BOE to switch from JETs to Interac ALTs in general?

[constant_sorrow]

If a BOE wants to save money, then yeah its the right move for them. plus they will probably get an experience ALT or eikaiwa teacher who's been in japan a little while, whom they dont have to babysit. even overseas interac hires are taken care of by the company, so less stuff to deal with. As for the quality of teacher they're getting, from what I've seen, its a crapshoot, JET, dispatched ALT, experienced or not.

[shinyplum]

I didn't really start this thread in order to get into an INTERAC-bashing/baiting discussion.
BOEs are turning to outsourcing companies like Interac in order to OUTSOURCE the responsibility of finding "NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS" (in their parlance)as a means of promoting Japan's internationalisation via improved English language education in the public school system. All this as per the orders of the national government.
So, the BOEs respond to the Ministry of Education's directives to increase "contact hours" with NESs by refusing to renegotiate the direct contracts held by experienced and effective TEACHERS(OP? ). To replace this valuable resource they turn to companies like INTERAC who promise to take this personnel/training/materials development problem COMPLETELY off their hands...and at a slight savings to them, the hapless BOE!("We don't know how to hire foreigners!" Actual quote.)
The problem with this scenario (aside from the obvious personal and embittering effect on OP like myself)is that it is ILLEGAL. According to Japanese Standard Education Law, the principal is the undisputed authority in her school. The gyomu-itaku contracts (entrusted outsourcing) violate this premise by their very nature. Under Dispatch Labour Law the client of an outsourcing firm (the school/principal) is not legally allowed to INSPECT the qualifications or references of the contract worker (Interac drone) sent to the workplace(school). So, there is a basic conflict of interest (and laws) that BOEs are deliberately choosing to ignore in favour of the bottom line argument presented by INTERAC.
So, I think new JETs are going to be learning more about INTERAC as they show up here for the first of their three years. What they will often be learning is that their first year is also their LAST year. The deal that INTERAC secretly secures with your local BOE will be done in OCTOBER, announced to your schools' principals shortly thereafter (with them sworn to secrecy) and ratified in February of the following year. As JETs you'll be given your plane ticket home and then some INTERAC Native English Speaker will be doing your job for considerably less everything. Less money. Less security. Less bargaining power. Less respect.

I was pretty straightforward in my original post. I stated who I was and why I was PO'd at the Kanagawa BOE. I also clearly stated how my situation relates to the JET programme (ie, no Kanagawa placements, no sir, no how!). As for INTERAC and their modus operandi: It will surely be eating up a lot more of the JET placements in the near future...UNLESS THERE IS SOME PROTEST.
On principle, I am opposed to the encroachment of private, for-profit interests into public education. Japan has a culturally-warped view of corporate middlemen insinuating their interests into all aspects of public life. This particular aspect affects me and, as a resident tax-payer, I want to organise as much PROTEST as I can raise.

See my second post in this thread for ways in which you can help.

Thanks for your time. I will get off my soap box, now.

Shinyplum

[shinyplum]

There are moves afoot to uncover the worst abuses of the new Interac regime in the Kanagawa high schools. The Japanese English teachers are on board and the teachers union too. Watch this space for future announcements.
shinyplum

[granite]

It would give a more balanced experience to JETs if they were not just fed management's point of view on everything. If they had other voices as well to administer the program it would be better. For example, do they ever get a South American migrant worker with children in the school system in Japan to help administer the JET Programme? Or Nikkyoso?

JETs could help you out shinyplum if they wanted. They could help out in acts of solidarity.

I think that some people are missing the point that private ALT companies use illegal gyomu itaku (service) contracts. They violate Education Law and Dispatch Law. And scofflaw boards of education actually request to use these contracts. How can an ALT respect any board of education that uses these contracts with Interac and other ALT companies?

Why should an ALT bother to follow the rules of the school board when the school board does not follow the rule of law?

[granite]

I am probably going to regret replying to an incoherent posting, but here goes...

Airion what is "that"?

Granite, using that as an argument is complete BS.

It seems that you got upset about some truths about Mormon b.s. and had a little cognitive dissonance breakdown which is common when Mormons are confronted with their church's bullshit dealings.

Sorry, if this distracts the thread. I won't carry on with the Mormon ownership of Interac beyond 1 or 2 more posts.

[kathi]

My friend is a nagoya JET and they've been told that there will be no more new JETs but they can recontract. sucks for them especially because they have to find their own apartments and buy all the stuff which they can't sell to new JETs now.

[Snakes]

bollocks, there goes all of my choices. If you are very short sighted when applying and choose silly big cities, will that affect my chances?
JET sucks these days, i hadn't looked into the modern situ well, my cousin did it about 8 years ago and he got tokyo no problem and had friends that went all over, osaka, kobe, kyoto, more in tokyo. i said thats why i selected them in my interview, but now im screwed on all 3.