30 more Filipino caregivers to leave for Japan under JPEPA

Another batch composed of 30 Filipino caregivers will leave for Japan on Sunday under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), the Japanese Embassy in the Philippines has said. This is the second batch of Filipino caregivers to undergo intensive language and skills training before assuming employment in hospitals and health institutions in Japan. The first batch of 270 Filipino candidate nurses and caregivers hired through JPEPA, under the framework on the Movement of Natural Persons, left last May. According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the health workers will initially undergo an onsite language and culture training for six months in five designated language institutions in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Hiroshima before they can start acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills from hospitals or health care facilities in Japan. Under the school track scheme, they will then take two to four-year school courses in caregiver schools. The POEA said qualified Filipino nurses will be allowed to take the Kangoshi (Nursing) Licensure Examination in February 2010. Candidate caregivers, on the other hand, would still need at least three years of work experience in Japan before they can take the Kaigo-fukushishi (Caregiver) National Certification Examination – which allows passer to continue working in Japan. The health workers are provided with an allowance during their training. But if they fail to pass the Japanese standards, they will be sent home immediately. Japan and the Philippines signed the JPEPA in September 2006. Following heated debates, the Philippine Congress approved the agreement in 2008, thereby allowing for the freer flow of trade and investments between the two countries. Under the agreement, the Japanese market will have greater access to Philippine produce while Japanese exporters will be able to supply certain electronic products to the Philippines at low or zero tariff. Japan, for its part, will then accept Filipino nurses and health care workers. - GMANews.TV