Following the dismal passing percentage of those who are taking the national licensure in Japan for “kangoshi” (nurses) [看護師] and “kaigofukushishi” (caregiver) [介護福祉士], the Japanese government has begun to introduce several improvements to make the examination easier for foreign applicants by replacing difficult words with easier ones.
In a press briefing held in Pasay City Tuesday, the Japanese Embassy disclosed that the improvement started last year by replacing too technical Japanese medical terms into the more popularly used and much easier English words like diabetes, cataract and pulmonary tuberculosis, among others.
Embassy officials pointed out that before only the Japanese equivalent of diabetes is used “but now we are using the English word in the examination papers of the prospective nurses and caregivers. We now add English words to the specific name of the disease.”
So far, only one Filipina nurse passed the qualification exam since the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) took effect about three years ago.
The Embassy said although there are already two batches of candidate nurses and caregivers who are currently in Japan, the Japanese Emnassy is still selecting the candidates who will compose the third batch who will head off to Japan “sometime in the spring of this year.”
Those who will be chosen for the third batch, the Japanese Embassy said it will provide additional preliminary Japanese language training here in Manila before they enter Japan which is equivalent to 2-3 months training.
This is apart from the six-month training that they will undergo upon entry to Japan, a process stipulated in JPEPA.
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/303211/japanese-govt-make-nursing-exams-easier