220 health workers to undergo training on Japanese language

12 November 2015

A total of 220 Japan-bound Filipino nurses and caregivers will undergo a six-month training on Japanese language and culture at the National Language Skills Institute of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. 
 
This 8th batch of candidate nurses and caregivers under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) will be deployed to Japan by June next year. 
 
They will undergo an additional six-month comprehensive language training in Japan.
 
“When in Japan, the nurses and caregivers should speak and act like the Japanese.  They should blend with the locals,” said Irene Isaac, the newly-appointed director general of  TESDA.
 
“Knowing their language and culture will make it easier for the Filipino health workers to adapt and settle in faster in the foreign soil,” Isaac added.
 
The knowledge of the Japanese language will also boost the candidates’ chances of passing the Japanese Licensure Examinations after they enter and work in Japan.
 
The Filipino nurses and care workers need to pass the national exam to allow them to work permanently in Japan.
 
On November 6 at the Tandang Sora Hall in TESDA, the candidates together with TESDA executives, government officials and officials from the Japanese Embassy attended the opening ceremony to welcome the new batch of nurses and caregivers.
 
Gracing the event were Isaac, Japan Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhide Ishikawa, Japan Foundation Manila Director Hiroaki Uesugi, First Secretary and Labor Attache Hiroyuki Enoki, DOLE Assistant Secretary for Employment Facilitation and Manpower Development Cluster Katherine B. Brimon, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Deputy Administrator Liberty Casco and other DOLE and TESDA officials. 
 
The Japan Foundation Manila has been implementing the Japanese Language Training Program for nurses and care workers since 2011.  The Foundation and TESDA signed a Memorandum of Agreement, in which TESDA was tasked to provide the training venue and accommodation of participants.
 
Since 2011, a total of 765 nurses and caregivers have undergone the training under the program under this partnership. 

Sec. Irene M. Isaac, TESDA Director General, (second from left) shares some thoughts with Ambassador Kazuhide Ishikawa of Japan (second from right) during the opening program of the Preparatory Japanese Language Training Program for Nurses and Care Worker Candidates held recently at the TESDA Women’s Center.

Secretary Irene M. Isaac, TESDA Director General; Ambassador Kazuhide Ishikawa of Japan; and officials of the Department of Labor and Employment, Philippines Overseas Employment Administration and The Japan Foundation with the nurses and caregivers who will undergo the Preparatory Language Training Program.