MANILA, March 31 (PNA) — Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said Japan’s National Examination for its Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) nursing candidates continues to be one of the most difficult in the world, but Filipino nurses are increasingly making headway.
“The average rate of passers vis-à-vis the number of examinees over the first batch is higher for the Philippines at 8.8 percent compared to Indonesia at 6.3 percent,” Baldoz said after she received an update from Labor Attaché to Tokyo Luz Talento.
Talento’s source of data was a press release of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
She reported to Baldoz that for the seventh batch of the examination, 5.6 of takers from the Philippines passed, but no Indonesian made it.
In the category of examinees who came to Japan just for the purpose of taking the examination and returned to their country after, the Philippines has the highest passing rate at 33 percent or one passer out of three examinees, according to Labor Attache Talento.
A total of 55 Filipino nurses have passed the examination from 2010 to 2014.
Filipino nurses since 2009 have been taking Japanese licensure examinations in nursing and caregiving under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, or JPEPA.
Under the JPEPA, candidates are given a maximum of three opportunities to take the national nursing examination, called Kangoshi, to be able to qualify as nurse in Japan. (PNA)