The Kurashiki NET Program is a program run by the Municipal Board of Education (BOE) in Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan, which places foreigners in Kurashiki junior high and elementary schools. Kurashiki received permission from the central government to have non-Japanese teachers teach solo lessons in schools. Thus the Board of Education places non-Japanese teachers in junior high schools and elementary schools to teach English to the students. Teachers have come from all over the world, including some countries where English is not the native language, such as France, Panama, Philippines, and Korea. As of July 2008, the NET program manager is Michael Langford.
Program history
The program began in 1987 with just one teacher visiting each of the 23 junior high schools in the district. With encouragement from the community and schools, the program has grown continuously. Originally, the program hired almost exclusively through its sister city relationships (Kansas City, United States and Christchurch, New Zealand). However, in 2002, hiring began within Japan in an effort to increase the diversity of teachers. Native teachers also began being placed in elementary schools in 2002.
In 2005, the program recruited an additional 10 teachers and saw the introduction of 'solo' lessons by native English teachers in junior high schools. As of 2006, the Kurashiki Municipal Board of Education is the only public school board in Japan to endow its foreign teachers with provisional prefectural teaching licenses.
In 2006, an additional eight participants were added to the program, bringing the total to 42.
In 2008, the program was unable to hire enough teachers, and the program has shrunk in size to 30 participants. The remaining slots have been filled by Interac teachers on temporary contracts.
Participants
There are 30 participants in the program for 2008. This is a decrease from the 42 teachers that were in the program the previous year. The program has one teacher from South Africa, three from the Philippines, one from Ireland, one from Scotland, one from Venezuela, two from New Zealand, two from Australia, one from England, four from Canada, and the rest (fourteen) from the USA.
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