Assistant Language Teacher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Assistant Language Teacher, often abbreviated to ALT, is a legal term used primarily by the Japanese Ministry of Education for native language speakers who assist teaching languages in elementary, junior high and high schools in Japan.
ALTs are not certified teachers, unlike their Japanese colleagues. In fact, the ALT system in Japan was created in negotiations between Japan and the US as a way to remedy the huge trade deficit of the 1980s.
Contents |
[edit] Being an ALT
[edit] Recruitment
ALTs are recruited by a private dispatch company, either within Japan or abroad. Once hired, they are sent to work in junior and senior high-schools and, increasingly, in elementary schools throughout Japan. Teachers are either assigned to one main school, or can work at a number of different schools in their area.
ALTs are usually on a contract which runs until at least the end of the third school term in March. They also usually have set holidays during the spring, summer and winter school vacations, in addition to public holidays.
[edit] The job
ALTs assist Japanese teachers of English to deliver lessons in the classroom. They may also be involved in lesson planning and marking. ALTs are often expected to be involved in after-school club activities as well.
[edit] Overview of the Private ALT System in Japan
In 1999, Dispatch Law was deregulated to allow dispatch companies to enter into other fields of work aside from the traditional industry of manufacturing. Education was one of these fields. Since then more and more local boards of education have turned to private ALT dispatching firms rather than using the JET program. In 2005, the Ministry of Education reported at union meetings (shunto) that there are approximately 1500 ALTs from private dispatching companies teaching in Japan.
Interac is by far the largest company in the private ALT business and the industry leader with hundreds of ALTs throughout Japan.
[edit] Legal violations
[edit] Education Law
Many of the contracts that local boards of education have signed with these companies are illegal gyomu itaku (service) contracts. These contracts violate Japan's General Education Law since the principal must be in charge of the teachers at his/her school, yet with such contracts the company is actually in charge, not the principal.
Some companies do have dispatch licenses, yet they may still sign a gyomu itaku contract with the local board of education. In order to find out if your city is using these contracts, you can ask your local city hall to see the contracts. It is the right of any resident (non-Japanese or Japanese) to see these contracts.
In 2005, the Japanese Ministry of Education declared these gyomu itaku contracts as illegal since they violate General School Education Law where the ALT company subverts the authority of the school principal. The Ministry's notice was issued to all prefectural boards of education in order to advise local boards of education to hire ALTs directly and not to use gyomu itaku contracts.
[edit] Labor Law
Often, smaller companies who do not have work rules, a properly selected employee's representative, or who otherwise violate Labor Standards Law continue to do business cheaply and undercut other bidders for ALT contracts, driving down the monthly salary from the Ministry of Justice's standard of 250,000 yen a month. Often the companies do not pay ALTs for holidays and make illegal wage deductions. The Union has fostered improvements for ALT companies such as Heart Corporation, TRILS and RCS, among others
[edit] National Health Insurance Law
As of April 2005, Interac still have not been automatically placing their ALTs into the national health insurance and pension program (shakai hoken) which is required by law. In May 2005, the National Union of General Workers officially declared a branch at Interac.
[edit] Legal cases
[edit] Kanagawa Board of Education
In 2006, ALTs in Kanagawa Prefecture rejected the privatization of their jobs to Interac and took the Kanagawa Prefecture Board of Education to the Labour Relations Board where the case is still on-going.
[edit] Other local Boards of Education
The Union has been involved with several boards of education in the Kanto area including the Tokyo Board of Education, the Koga Board of Education (in Ibaraki Prefecture) and the Fukaya Board of Education (in Saitama Prefecture). In the case versus the Tokyo Board of Education, the Union won a decision stating that the directly hired ALTs were indeed legally classified as "workers" (rodosha) and not simply contractors. Further victories were achieved through the private companies that had contracts with the Koga and Fukaya boards of education
nb. For information on the public ALT system, see JET Programme
[edit] External links
- Interac Branch of National Union of General Workers Tokyo South
- National Union of General Workers Tokyo South
- Kanagawa ALT protest against privatization
[edit] Further reading
- David L. McConnell ''Importing Diversity: Inside Japan's JET Program"
- Nicholas Klar "My Mother is a Tractor: A Life in Rural Japan"
