Japan's new "support association"
Covert
Hi all,
Got some good news and some bad news here concerning homelearning
developments in Japan....
The good news is that a new, national-level homeschooling "support
association" has been formed recently in Japan.
The bad news is that homelearners on the whole in Japan are not exactly
out dancing in the streets in celebration of this new organization.
Why not? Well, while it is true that the new Homeschool Support
Association of Japan, or HoSA, which is located (in Japanese) at:
http://www.homeschool.ne.jp/
is indeed a nonprofit organization targeting homelearners, it is also
true that this new association was essentially "created" by a private,
for-profit corporation.
This private, for-profit corporation is the Atmark Inter-Highschool,
located....
--in Japanese at: http://www.inter-highschool.ne.jp/
--in English at: http://www.inter-highschool.ne.jp/eng/index.html
(Interestingly enough, Atmark prominently advertises and offers a direct
link to this new Homeschool Support Association on the company's
Japanese-language website link above -- but not on its above
English-language website.)
The Atmark company, as some of you may have heard, is a relative newcomer
on the business scene in Japan. It was formed in spring of this year.
Atmark, under its leader -- a Japanese businessman named Mr. Kozo Hino
-- is marketing itself as offering an American-style education and a
US-recognized diploma once Japanese students finish their courses (which
are conducted primarily on the Internet).
Atmark can promote itself as such because it has made a tie-up with the
Alger Learning Center & Independence High School, based in Washington
state, USA. Alger's website is located at:
http://www.independent-learning.com/
Alger advertises itself in major homeschooling magazines in the US as a
"Washington State Approved Private School K-12" and, indeed, appears to
be an officially recognized institution of learning.
Alger's Japanese partner, Atmark, however, enjoys no such status in
Japan. Atmark definitely *is not* recognized academically in Japan by the
Ministry of Education or any other educational body in this country. The
diploma that Japanese high school students receive from Atmark may be
certifiably recognized in Washington state in the US, but it is not
recognized anywhere in Japan.
To put it bluntly, Atmark is nothing more than a private business in
Japan, and like all other private businesses anywhere, it is bound only
by the limitations of the free market. This type of business-education
"marriage" of Atmark and Alger is common -- and has been common for many
years now -- among so-called educational joint ventures between the US
and Japan. Sometimes with disastrous results.
And that is why homelearners in Japan on the whole seem to be so
suspicious and mistrustful now of Atmark's very quick moves to create
this national Homeschooling Support Association here in Japan. It is
obvious that profit is the guiding motivation here, not moral concern for
the plight of those who desire to learn at home. And in return, there
appears to be little, if any, meaningful support among the grassroots
homelearning community in Japan for Atmark's new creation, the Homeschool
Support Association of Japan.
One cannot help but seriously wonder, at this stage, if the new
Homeschool Support Association of Japan is, in fact, anything more than a
nonprofit PR organ for the Atmark corporation itself.
And speaking of PR: This new "support association" in Japan has only been
in existence a matter of weeks, and yet it already has allied itself with
some very controversial and powerful friends: On 29 July 2000, Atmark's
new Homeschool Support Association of Japan will celebrate its auspicious
debut by holding a symposium in Tokyo and inviting Mr. Christopher
Klicka, senior counsel of the US-based Home School Legal Defense
Association (HSLDA), as a special guest.
For more details on Atmark, this new "support association" and the
Japanese educational market, take a look at a critical review by Aileen
Kawagoe, a homelearning parent in Japan and editor of a newsletter on the
"Homeschooling in Japan" website. The URL to Aileen's very thorough
write-up is:
http://www2.gol.com/users/milkat/june00.html
....and continues on at:
http://www2.gol.com/users/milkat/june00_2.html#starting
I will try to keep you posted regularly on future developments with this
new "support association" here in Japan. Aileen's review is a very good
place to start in the meantime.
Brian Covert
(KnoK NEWS)
in Osaka, Japan
Got some good news and some bad news here concerning homelearning
developments in Japan....
The good news is that a new, national-level homeschooling "support
association" has been formed recently in Japan.
The bad news is that homelearners on the whole in Japan are not exactly
out dancing in the streets in celebration of this new organization.
Why not? Well, while it is true that the new Homeschool Support
Association of Japan, or HoSA, which is located (in Japanese) at:
http://www.homeschool.ne.jp/
is indeed a nonprofit organization targeting homelearners, it is also
true that this new association was essentially "created" by a private,
for-profit corporation.
This private, for-profit corporation is the Atmark Inter-Highschool,
located....
--in Japanese at: http://www.inter-highschool.ne.jp/
--in English at: http://www.inter-highschool.ne.jp/eng/index.html
(Interestingly enough, Atmark prominently advertises and offers a direct
link to this new Homeschool Support Association on the company's
Japanese-language website link above -- but not on its above
English-language website.)
The Atmark company, as some of you may have heard, is a relative newcomer
on the business scene in Japan. It was formed in spring of this year.
Atmark, under its leader -- a Japanese businessman named Mr. Kozo Hino
-- is marketing itself as offering an American-style education and a
US-recognized diploma once Japanese students finish their courses (which
are conducted primarily on the Internet).
Atmark can promote itself as such because it has made a tie-up with the
Alger Learning Center & Independence High School, based in Washington
state, USA. Alger's website is located at:
http://www.independent-learning.com/
Alger advertises itself in major homeschooling magazines in the US as a
"Washington State Approved Private School K-12" and, indeed, appears to
be an officially recognized institution of learning.
Alger's Japanese partner, Atmark, however, enjoys no such status in
Japan. Atmark definitely *is not* recognized academically in Japan by the
Ministry of Education or any other educational body in this country. The
diploma that Japanese high school students receive from Atmark may be
certifiably recognized in Washington state in the US, but it is not
recognized anywhere in Japan.
To put it bluntly, Atmark is nothing more than a private business in
Japan, and like all other private businesses anywhere, it is bound only
by the limitations of the free market. This type of business-education
"marriage" of Atmark and Alger is common -- and has been common for many
years now -- among so-called educational joint ventures between the US
and Japan. Sometimes with disastrous results.
And that is why homelearners in Japan on the whole seem to be so
suspicious and mistrustful now of Atmark's very quick moves to create
this national Homeschooling Support Association here in Japan. It is
obvious that profit is the guiding motivation here, not moral concern for
the plight of those who desire to learn at home. And in return, there
appears to be little, if any, meaningful support among the grassroots
homelearning community in Japan for Atmark's new creation, the Homeschool
Support Association of Japan.
One cannot help but seriously wonder, at this stage, if the new
Homeschool Support Association of Japan is, in fact, anything more than a
nonprofit PR organ for the Atmark corporation itself.
And speaking of PR: This new "support association" in Japan has only been
in existence a matter of weeks, and yet it already has allied itself with
some very controversial and powerful friends: On 29 July 2000, Atmark's
new Homeschool Support Association of Japan will celebrate its auspicious
debut by holding a symposium in Tokyo and inviting Mr. Christopher
Klicka, senior counsel of the US-based Home School Legal Defense
Association (HSLDA), as a special guest.
For more details on Atmark, this new "support association" and the
Japanese educational market, take a look at a critical review by Aileen
Kawagoe, a homelearning parent in Japan and editor of a newsletter on the
"Homeschooling in Japan" website. The URL to Aileen's very thorough
write-up is:
http://www2.gol.com/users/milkat/june00.html
....and continues on at:
http://www2.gol.com/users/milkat/june00_2.html#starting
I will try to keep you posted regularly on future developments with this
new "support association" here in Japan. Aileen's review is a very good
place to start in the meantime.
Brian Covert
(KnoK NEWS)
in Osaka, Japan