ID :
100729
Sun, 01/17/2010 - 22:12
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/100729
The shortlink copeid
Japan to consider addressing language barrier of foreign nurses
TOKYO, Jan. 17 Kyodo -
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told his Indonesian and Philippine
counterparts in Tokyo on Sunday that the Japanese government would consider how
Japan can address the possible language barrier faced by the countries' nurses
in sitting for Japan's national qualifying exams, the Japanese Foreign Ministry
said.
Japan, a rapidly aging society, began accepting foreign nurses and caregivers
from 2008 under bilateral economic partnership agreements amid labor shortages
in medical and nursing services.
The caregivers are required to return to their countries if they fail to obtain
the national qualification within four years of their arrival and nurses have
to do the same within three years.
The Chinese characters used in the exams apparently pose a big hurdle for
overseas nurses. None of the Indonesian nurses passed last year's national
exams held in February 2009.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told Okada that he hopes the
Japanese government will address the issue, noting that it is difficult to pass
the exams because of the use of Chinese characters, according to the Japanese
Foreign Ministry.
Japanese officials said Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo also
referred to the nurses and caregivers accepted by Japan during separate talks
with Okada.
Okada was quoted as telling both of them, ''We would like to consider within
the government how to deal (with the issue), including the problem of Japanese
language ability.''
In an interview with Kyodo News, Natalegawa said the examinations are creating
hurdles for Indonesian nurses who are otherwise professionally qualified to
practice in Japan.
''We are asking the Japanese government to look at the requirement to see
whether it has the impact, inadvertently maybe, maybe not intentionally, of
creating unnecessary and unfair hurdles,'' Natalegawa said.
The bilateral talks were held on the sidelines of a two-day meeting in Tokyo
that ended Sunday which brought together foreign ministers and senior officials
from East Asian and Latin American countries.
==Kyodo
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told his Indonesian and Philippine
counterparts in Tokyo on Sunday that the Japanese government would consider how
Japan can address the possible language barrier faced by the countries' nurses
in sitting for Japan's national qualifying exams, the Japanese Foreign Ministry
said.
Japan, a rapidly aging society, began accepting foreign nurses and caregivers
from 2008 under bilateral economic partnership agreements amid labor shortages
in medical and nursing services.
The caregivers are required to return to their countries if they fail to obtain
the national qualification within four years of their arrival and nurses have
to do the same within three years.
The Chinese characters used in the exams apparently pose a big hurdle for
overseas nurses. None of the Indonesian nurses passed last year's national
exams held in February 2009.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told Okada that he hopes the
Japanese government will address the issue, noting that it is difficult to pass
the exams because of the use of Chinese characters, according to the Japanese
Foreign Ministry.
Japanese officials said Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo also
referred to the nurses and caregivers accepted by Japan during separate talks
with Okada.
Okada was quoted as telling both of them, ''We would like to consider within
the government how to deal (with the issue), including the problem of Japanese
language ability.''
In an interview with Kyodo News, Natalegawa said the examinations are creating
hurdles for Indonesian nurses who are otherwise professionally qualified to
practice in Japan.
''We are asking the Japanese government to look at the requirement to see
whether it has the impact, inadvertently maybe, maybe not intentionally, of
creating unnecessary and unfair hurdles,'' Natalegawa said.
The bilateral talks were held on the sidelines of a two-day meeting in Tokyo
that ended Sunday which brought together foreign ministers and senior officials
from East Asian and Latin American countries.
==Kyodo
