jet programme

With the JET Programme potentially slated for the chopping block, it seems that nobody is showing enough concern for the program's future. Cue JET alumni:

A couple of things in the news caught my eye that made me think Japan's approach to teaching English could be changing for the better.

From the Yomiuri Online:

The Japanese and U.S. governments are considering the establishment of a program that would send young Japanese teachers of English to the United States to improve their English ability, it has been learned.

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.

F*cked Gaijin links to an entry by Jim Gannon on jetwit.com about how the JET Program has been put on the chopping block by the DJP jjigyo shiwake government waste panel.

The Yomiuri Shimbun, via Yahoo!, has a story about the dark underbelly of ALT dispatch companies as English will become a compulsory subject in the fifth and sixth grades in 2011.

For example, schools have to deal with the constant turnover of ALTs. One BOE member in Saitama related that he is on his 4th ALT quit since April. This revolving door of teachers is not conducive to learning.

The Chunichi Shimbun writes about how Nagoya and Gifu Prefecture are favoring ALTs from private dispatch companies over the goverment-funded JET Programme when it comes to teaching English.