Shawn's blog

Now the shit is really hitting the fan. It was bad enough for Nova that getting punished by METI in June forever branded them a dishonest company, but with media reports saying that they are looking to close nearly 200 schools, Nova is now a dishonest and financially struggling company. Great PR work, boys.

The Mainichi Shimbun

NOVA looks to shut down schools amid financial crisis

I spoke with Randy who has been posting in comments and he is pissed off and not going to take it any more. He'll be in Namba at 10am tomorrow (September 20) to wave a placard and protest Nova's non-payment of salaries. If you are in the area, show up and lend your support. If you have a blog, cut and paste the news articles from here and let everyone know that Nova is insolvent and not a viable company to work for.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have printed nearly identical stories by Justin Norrie that sum up Nova's problems and the delays in paying salaries. Sadly, the press in Japan has failed to take notice. The Japanese media was quick report when Nova staff didn't get paid, but when it comes to the teachers, there's nothing.

With employee salaries unpaid, where is the Nova union in all this? They have fought for the longest time to get teachers enrolled in shakai hoken, but when the teachers need union representation the most, the union is strangely silent. What's going on?

Nova's worst nightmare is now a reality. As of 3pm yesterday, it appears that Nova was unable to pay all of its instructors. A stated:

Regrettably, it has not been possible to complete all the necessary operations to deposit instructors salaries on September 14, 2007. Salaries will be deposited by September 19, 2007. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this causes.

There are only two things that can save Nova now, neither of which appears likely: students inexplicably return to Nova in droves or an angel investor bails out or buys them. Given the uncertainty surrounding Nova's future, it's time to review how one goes about collecting unemployment insurance in the event that Nova goes bankrupt.

If you currently work for Nova, you have two choices: you can quit now, or you can wait for Nova to go bankrupt.

Quitting

The good: If you quit now and manage to find another job, you're safe. You're free of Nova.

Why am I not surprised?

Nova explanation leads to lawsuit over refund

A 17-year old Kanagawa high school girl has filed a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court against Osaka-based Nova demanding the return of 420 thousand yen in lesson fees after after she canceled her contract. Nova gave contradictory explanations and failed to refund the girl's unused lessons fees claiming that they had expired.

According to the lawyer representing the girl, "Many similar lawsuits seeking damages have been filed by ex-students but no judicial ruling has been handed down."

This is a quick and dirty translation of an article in the September issue of FACTA that pretty much writes off Nova. The article pulls no punches taking swipes at Nova's sleazy business practices and the political interference to save Nova.

The bad people who protect Nova

The truth behind the six thousand complaints swept under the carpet

When was the last time you saw some good press about Nova?

Nova's quarterly report [pdf] for the period of April to June 2007 has been released and the results are not encouraging.