Local News

Fukuoka City Seeks Legal Tweak To Improve JHS English Classes

Fukuoka City, which has been designated a special strategic zone, has asked the national government relax certain stipulations in the Worker Dispatch Act that essentially prevent Japanese teachers of English from “freely conversing” with foreign teaching assistants in junior high school English classes. According to the Fukuoka City Board of Education, native English-speaking instructors contracted through private companies are sent to the City’s 69 junior high schools once a week to team-teach with Japanese teachers of English; however, the Worker Dispatch Act prevents the party ordering the work from issuing direct orders to subcontractors. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, if a Japanese teacher in the classroom were to give “advice or engage in a dialogue” with a subcontracted teaching assistant, there is a possibility the teacher could be accused of subcontracting contract fraud. In 2013, the education ministry conducted a survey and found that more than 20% of the 6,500 foreign teaching assistants working in public junior high schools were working on subcontracting contracts. An official from the Fukuoka City Board of Education commented on the situation by saying, “We would like to make classes more vibrant by relaxing these restrictions.” Source: Nishinippon Shimbun 3/25

Screenshot 2015-03-26 12.07.06

(Photo from cover of Fukuoka Now Magazine 2007 – Get it here: http://issuu.com/fukuokanow/docs/fn108/4 )

Category
General
Published: Mar 26, 2015 / Last Updated: Apr 1, 2016

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