Interview with Mister Micawber

Introduction

Below you will find an interviewwith Charles Harper, whose pseudonymand business name is «Mister Micawber».

Torsten:
Charles, what about the ESL market in Japan? Is the demand for English language services growing or shrinking?

Mr. Micawber:
An interesting question, Torsten, and many are watching for the answer. For those who have remained here since the bursting of the Economic Bubble at the turn of the last decade (that being 1988-91, and this being 2006), opportunities and salaries seem faded and lustreless. The Good Old Days have got up and went; no one is going home a millionaire after a few years of teaching English here any more.

Still, I don't think it is that bad. Salaries are indeed set in rigor mortis: a fresh new English instructor at your average commercial language school is still guaranteed 220,000 - 250,000 per month, just what it was in 1990. I think that your average Japanese salary man or office lady does not now have as much free cash to use on English lessons. Many commercial schools died in the early 90s; the ones that remain seem to be holding their own, however. English is still a real necessity or a gripping hobby for many, and work should be easy enough to find for the foreseeable future: the turnover of young college BAs who come here to teach for a year or two before going back home to graduate school or a real job continues apace. Fewer Japanese, certainly, are studying English on a whim now, though.

The plum has always been a university professorship (or a reasonable facsimile thereof). Once, a postgraduate degree in anything would get you one of these; now it takes a postgraduate degree in linguistics or TEFL. A few years back, there was an industry-wide hassle between foreign instructors and tertiary institutes over the matter of tenure: Japanese professors got it, English professors didn't. Overall, foreign teachers have failed to gain equal recognition; but there may have been progress in gaining longer contracts and so being kept on staff longer (the management argument originally was that English instructors should not be kept long -- away from home, they lose their familiarity with current English!) This means slightly fewer opportunities for newcomers in this area, as incumbents have settled more solidly into their positions, and the universities themselves are generally digging in and trying to weather the slower economy. Budgets are relatively tight.

The most hopeful area is English education for children. The Ministry of Education is in the midst -- again -- of revamping the system, and we are, as I speak, experiencing a gradual transition from mandatory to elective English in secondary school education (grades 7-12), but with the newly-conceived addition of English to the primary school grades. For teachers within the system (actually, «Assistant Teachers» is how foreign instructors are designated), the shift in training, skills and responsibilities required is obvious. Outside the system, there will develop an increased demand for English instructors in «juku» (cram schools), kindergartens, and commercial children's English schools.

So, for those who love children and have training in children's language education, there is particular promise here. Thank goodness, my own clientele of adult learners is well established. One rug rat of my own is one rug rat too many.

See the details from http://www.english-test.net/esl-cafe/30/index.html

Question:

What's the meaning 'One rug rat of my own is one rug rat too many'?

My question is that what's the meaning of 'rug rat' here?

Thanks for helping me if you're free and you would like to give me a favor.