Japan grants one-year extension for Filipino nurses

Filipino and Indonesian nurses will get the chance to train more to pass Japan's rigorous nursing and care qualification exams after its government allowed trainees to stay an additional year.

report on Japan Times said the extension would also give candidates who failed but received good scores in their last qualifying exams more time to prepare.

Passing rates are expected to go up with the extra year, as it had in 2011 and 2013 when a similar extension was passed, the report said.

Around 300 Filipino and Indonesian candidate nurses and caregivers who arrived in 2013 and 93 Indonesian health workers who arrived in 2012 will benefit from the extension, it added.

Prior to the move, nurses were given three years and three chances to prepare for the exams, while caregivers were given four years but only one chance to pass.

The language barrier is suspected to be the reason behind low passing rates.

In 2013, nurses posted a pass rate of 10.6 percent, while caregivers set 36.3 percent rate.

Japanese Consul General Maria Teresa Taguiang had earlier encouraged Filipino nurses and teachers to try their luck in Japan due to the high demand for English teachers and caregivers there.

However, she advised Filipinos to learn how to speak and read Nihonggo in order to look for employment in Japan. Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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