The JET Program sent me to Japan. There are many ways to go to Japan these days to do entry-level work like teaching English, but this is the preferred way to go since it's the only one with Japanese government backing.
Japan got a new prime minister earlier this summer, and the buzzword of the day is "fiscal responsibility," which led to the extension of a government-wide review of a huge range of government programs. Naturally, JET came under review. There's a really good writeup of events on
jetwit.com by a JET alum and Columbia SIPA graduate. I've taken a few bits and added some commentary and things that you should consider if you're a JET-watcher, alum, or prospective participant:
Snippet: During the course of the proceedings, the JET Program was criticized as being ineffective in raising the level of Japan’s English education. One of the more publicized comments called for the elimination of the Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) portion of JET.
Translation: This assessment is pretty much correct - as far as educational programs go, it's about as close to worthless as you can get. If you took fancy new American educational metrics to JET-subscribing schools, I'd bet good money you'd see virtually no correlation with English skills among the students or graduates. The common observation among alums is that each class has one super-star child, who would have been awesome at English with or without an awkward white person standing at the front of the room every day. This is why the overwhelming majority of school districts have dropped JET in favor of less costly private dispatch providers such as Interac. Seen in this light, JET looks like a pretty poor investment for the Japanese government (who go to enormous cost to hire teachers through embassies, fly them to Japan, and pay them way above local cost of living).
Snippet: In its June meeting in Washington, D.C., the US-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Exchange (CULCON), a joint US-Japan “wisemen’s commission” scathingly criticized the shortsightedness of any move to cut the JET Program, issuing a statement that [strongly endorsed the JET Program].
Translation: A handful of policy wonks who do work of questionable value, are likely all JET alums, and have their employment thanks to that status desperately want to see the program live.
Snippet: For its part, the US State Department also seems to be taking the position that the JET Program makes valuable contributions to the long-term underpinnings of US-Japan relations and cutting it will be harmful.
Translation: State Department employees focused on Japan likely include a significant population of alums from JET or similar programs in other countries. If they can't work on fun cultural exchange stuff like JET any more, they'll be sent back to the passport division, and that would suck.
Snippet: The general sense was that the JET Program was being evaluated as an educational program with the exchange component being given short shrift, since its impact is difficult to quantify and assess.
Translation: Hai, there's the rub. JET stands for Japan Exchange and Teaching. In truth, the State Department is right to observe that the demise of JET would adversely affect US-Japan relations in the long run. But I believe that the effects of JET can be observed, and it wouldn't be very hard at all. Ignore the financial sector for a minute and look at the Westerners working in bilateral roles between Japan and Western countries. I'd wager that the JET alums in general (a) are in roles of greater import and (b) leave their Japanese bosses more satisfied than non-JET alums (both of which are statements you could measure with a simple employer survey).
I'd predict this has a lot to do with the Japanese government's treatment of JET members as opposed to those cheaper dispatch teachers. Dispatch teachers come over to do a job. JET members, on the other hand, have their existence acknowledged by the Japanese government and often arrive in their villages as de facto government employees, which confers much greater degrees of both respect and responsibility. They're paid well, which keeps them more comfortable.
And there's an even simpler metric: look up all the Japan specialists (current and former) from top-tier international relations grad schools. You'll get a wide pool of people: business people and entrepreneurs, journalists, nonprofit managers, international institution members (ranging from obscure UN organizations on Equal Rights for Toasters to the World Bank) and yes, policy wonks who sit on self-serving conferences like CULCON. How many are JET alums? How many are Interac alums?
I think you know my prediction.
There are petitions circulating the English-language Web, but this is really a matter for the politicians. The JET Program is a child of the LDP (the party that lost power last year and held onto power forever using a massive aggregation of local pork), and make no mistake: JET money that went to rural governments was a clever form of pork.
If I had to make a prediction about the program's fate, I bet it'll be left alone. Two reasons:
-The government is completely deadlocked, and even moreso after the Upper House election of a couple weeks ago.
-JET has been on a slow decline for about a decade as local governments unilaterally decide to go to private dispatch. If the problem will take care of itself in time, why step on a political mine?
Those of you who want to involve Japan in your professional lives, jump on the JET wagon while it's still a valued asset. We could be the last generation of professionals who get to benefit from it.