-
·
Japan befuddled by elderly care debate
Wahyudin dreams of becoming a full-fledged caregiver, if not a certified nurse, in Japan. But the Indonesian worker must first pass the required Japanese-language national certification examination, which is far from easy. Until then the 29-year-old Wahyudin, a registered nurse in his home country, will remain a caregiver trainee in an elderly-care facility in Yamada…
-
·
Caregivers sent to Japan under EPA get hand to overcome language hurdle
The Philippine government has begun language classes to help nurses wanting to go and work in Japan overcome the high language barrier, and even pays them to enroll. The project is aimed at boosting the rate of Philippine applicants who pass Japan’s national nursing examination and increasing the number of nurses seeking a career in…
-
·
Japan looks for answers as China surges past
Japan’s GDP slump, and news that China’s economy is now bigger, will intensify the search for answers on turning around the economy. To some, the answer lies offshore. Not in the traditional sense of exporting cars and televisions, but in bringing in new workers from Japan’s rapidly developing neighbours. The Japanese are good at finding…
-
·
Meager pay keeps ranks of instructors in doldrums
It may not be well-known, but [Japanese language instruction] has also been on the rise, with more people than ever trying to learn [the language]. But the number of Japanese who teach nonnative speakers isn’t growing, partly due to lack of interest among academic circles and the low pay at private language schools that derives…
-
·
Strict immigration rules may threaten Japan’s future
Her new country needs her, her new employer adores her, and Joyce Anne Paulino, who landed here 14 months ago knowing not a word of the language, can now say in Japanese that she’d like very much to stay. But Paulino, 31, a nurse from the Philippines, worries about the odds. To stay in Japan…
-
·
The only Filipino nurse to pass Japan’s nursing exam
Ever Lalin, like others in the first batch of 98 nurses and caregivers who went to Japan May last year for a training stint preparatory to taking the Japanese nursing licensure exam, had no prior lessons in the Niponggo language. “Halimaw ah (A monster’s feat),” cheered nurse bloggers when it was announced last March that…
-
·
33 foreign care workers go home; test too difficult
Thirty-three Filipinos and Indonesians who came to Japan to work as nurses and nursing care workers have returned home after becoming discouraged by their slim prospects of passing the national exams for their professions, it has been learned. Eleven went home after learning they had failed the latest annual nursing exam. Only 1.2 percent of…
-
·
Nursing candidates get online help
A website that assists foreign students studying Japanese has been updated to help nurse and caregiver candidates from Indonesia and the Philippines learn to read kanji Chinese characters and what Japanese medical and care terms mean. A group led by Yoshiko Kawamura, a professor of Japanese language teaching at Tokyo International University, has added Indonesian…
-
·
Language sets high hurdle for caregiver candidates
FOREIGN NURSES Since the first batch of Indonesian nurses and caregivers arrived in 2008 under a new bilateral economic partnership agreement, 570 have come to Japan, as have 310 Filipinos under another EPA that took effect two years ago. But just two Indonesians and one Filipino — out of 254 applicants — passed Japan’s nursing…
-
·
Fresh batch of Filipino nurses, caregivers to leave for Japan
A fresh batch of over 100 candidate nurses and caregivers will leave the Philippines for Japan this weekend to begin free language and skills training, officials said Saturday. A total of 46 nurses and 70 caregivers, the third group of Filipino health workers to be sent to Japan, will depart Sunday to undergo a six-month…