Philippine nurses, caregivers to arrive in Japan in April-June

Friday 07th November, 01:25 AM JST

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10 Comments

rjd_jr at 09:00 AM JST - 7th November

Great for them, win win situation for all. It's great they are getting language and other training and are required to maintain proficiency in order to stay, a far cry from other countries with their ridiculous and ineffective immigration policies that cost taxpayers billions.

Not only are these nurses getting a much higher standard of living, but they are helping those back home also. Again, kudos.
shonanbb at 02:50 PM JST - 7th November

No one can learn and be fluent in this language in just six months time. Impossible. They were set up to fail. What a shame.
some14some at 03:35 PM JST - 7th November

April-June, 2009? may be arriving by ship.
Patrick Smash at 03:38 PM JST - 7th November

I hope Japan intends repaying the cost of their medical training to the Phillippine govt.
saitamakid at 03:41 PM JST - 7th November

I believe that those who will even try to venture into becoming a caregiver in Japan are those who are desperately seeking jobs abroad, and were not able to qualify in the US or other English-speaking countries' qualifying/licensure tests. In other words, they are not the cream of the crops, but the Philippines' bottom few... Good luck to Japan!
JPYuki at 03:48 PM JST - 7th November

It is true that it is impossible to become fluent in Japanese in six months. I have been studying far longer than that and I still can't carry a conversation in Japanese! My problem is that I live in a community of English-speaking people. Fluency can only be achieved if a person lives among Japanese-speaking people. The six months of language training may not be enough, but it is a good and necessary step towards fluency, which they will hopefully work for when they start living in Japan.
nandakandamanda at 04:04 PM JST - 7th November

A perfect system. They work here for four years at minimal salary (being unqualified) and if they fail to get the national qualification they are sent back. New ones come in to fill their places. Cheap labor/labour forever in a rolling influx. Win/win situation for the hospitals.
mikihouse at 09:42 PM JST - 7th November

perfect system? barely. The truth is that the hospitals are in deep trouble because of accepting these foreign workers. The hospital has to pay for their apartment, their education, living expenses, plus they have to pay somebody to translate all files, medicines, patient chart and everything into English. It requires millions of yen just to support one caregiver and if they failed to pass then the hospital paid for nothing. The only reason why Japan is pretending to open its hospitals to foreigners is that the Japanese govt made a deal with countries like Indonesia and Phil for free trade or low taxes on Japanese products and in return will open their market to foreign labor. There are hundreds or thousands of nurses and caregiver in Japan who are unemployed but the govt is not helping them.
elbudamexicano at 10:34 PM JST - 7th November

Good luck Filipina nurses!
letstalk at 03:28 PM JST - 8th November

I believe that those who will even try to venture into becoming a caregiver in Japan are those who are desperately seeking jobs abroad, and were not able to qualify in the US or other English-speaking countries' qualifying/licensure tests. In other words, they are not the cream of the crops, but the Philippines' bottom few...

I beg to disagree, saitamakid. Every year the Philippines produces thousands of nursing graduates. (not including the thousands of Caregiver graduates, too) Recently, Canada opened its doors for some of them. But you see, there are just so many aspirants to a few limited slots that not everyone aims to be in an English-speaking country anymore. Although it could be the best option because Filipinos can speak/read/write English. Most graduates aims to go abroad because of better remuneration, way better than if they work in the Philippines. Anywhere.., simply for a better future for their families. And not because they belong to the bottom few.