"We asked the Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services (JICWELS) to increase the quota for PMIs in Japan, especially for caretakers," Head of BP2MI Benny Ramdhani noted in a statement received here, Thursday.
During his working visit to Japan to strengthen governance for PMI's placement and protection, he remarked that increasing the quota was one of the highlighted issued conveyed to JICWELS.
His side also suggested to Japan to reconsider the two-year experience requirement after having a Certificate of Registration (STR) for nurse positions. BP2MI considers these requirements as being difficult to fulfill for PMIs.
"The nurse quota is difficult to achieve. The requirements are quite difficult for PMIs to fulfill. We hope the requirements could be lowered," Ramdhani remarked.
He also called on the Japanese counterpart to change the quota pattern for nurse and caretaker placement.
"If the nurse quota cannot be met, prospective Indonesian migrant workers can fill the caretaker position," he stated.
His side then also raised a request to expand language training and interview test locations, considering that Indonesia is an archipelagic country.
"If interviews are only held in Jakarta, our prospective PMIs from other cities will have difficulty to access the location. (This is) especially since it requires more money to travel to Jakarta," he explained.
He then offered three new locations representing each region, such as in Surabaya, Manado, and Medan.
Responding to the proposal from BP2MI, the International Operations Section I of the Japan Foundation, Noguchi Yuko, stated that the proposed expansion of language training and interview tests is difficult to realize.
"If we add more training locations, we have to ask the Japanese government for more budget," Yuko remarked.
Yuko then suggested to the Indonesian government to discuss this matter at the government level. On November 20, the Indonesian government can propose it at the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA).
Meanwhile, Managing Director of JICWELS, Kataoka Yoshikazu, stated that job opportunities for nurses and caretakers under the IJEPA framework began in 2008 and received a positive response.
"We have received various feedback from medical agencies that employ Indonesian migrant workers. Indonesian workers work really hard and are kind. The agencies are satisfied with their performance," Yoshikazu stated.
He remarked that in the national exam held in March 2023, the passing rate for Indonesian migrant workers in caretaker positions was 67.3 percent.
"This figure is the highest figure in history. The graduation rate for nurse positions is also quite high," he noted.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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