The Ministry of Education appears to be putting more emphasis on communicative English in primary and secondary schools. To meet this demand the number of Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) taking up positions at public schools has dramatically increased over the past decade. However, due to financial pressures on local governments, the method of procuring ALTs has taken a dramatic change from directly hiring ALTs on the JET Program, to acquiring ALTs by tender. Currently all ALTs in Fukuoka City and Kitakyushu City schools are “procured” by tender. Forty prefectural high schools also use outsourced ALTs.
The presentation will detail how the tendering process is carried out, focusing on the problems facing teachers who work for the “dispatch” companies. Over the past few years I have obtained thousands of pages of documentation through the Freedom of Information Act, and have pieced together how the dispatch companies make profits by keeping costs (ALT salary etc.) to a minimum.
Chris Flynn is a Professor in the Faculty of Management and Information Sciences at the Kyushu Institute of Information Sciences.
