Japanese officials informed Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on plans to offer programs for the employment of Filipino nurses, caregivers, and skilled workers.
(File photo/MANILA BULLETIN)
In a statement, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) shared about the visit to her office of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Representative Sakamoto Takema, Minister for Health, Labour, and Welfare Katsunobu Kato, and Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Women Empowerment, Mori Masako.
Filipino nurses, skilled workers for construction and industrial waste treatment, and others can expect employment in Japan under several programs offered by the Japanese government, which also signified plans to help the Philippines build resilient schools and provide internship programs.
“Kato said they also need more Filipino nurses to work in Japan under the Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA),” the statement said.
The Japanese official also revealed that 54.7 percent of Filipino caregivers who took the examination for Japan last March passed. This is the highest mark recorded for Filipino examinees in the past 10 years.
He assured that non-passers of the caregivers’ examination can still stay in Japan and retake the exam.
Takema, for his part, told the Vice President that Japan intends to offer training for the Philippine education sector's development this year.
“This year we succeeded to convince Tokyo to give more courses and seats for your DepEd (Department of Education) officials and teachers,” he said.
JICA also said it was “keen to promote PPP (Public-Private Partnership)” to encourage Japanese partners to come to the Philippines “to address the development challenges and exploring future investments.”
Takema also underscored the importance of teaching elementary schoolchildren disaster education in partnership with the local government units.
He revealed plans to recruit JICA volunteers to teach Filipino children and to attend a technical education training program scheduled in August or September.
During her meeting with Masako, Duterte presented an update on the education trend of “women learners outperforming male learners.”
“This is not really a good thing but in terms of women empowerment, it shows that our female learners are doing well,” the Vice President said.