Indonesian nurses to study Japanese before heading to Japan

Kyodo - Senior officials of Indonesia and Japan have "principally" agreed that Indonesian caregivers and nurses to work in Japan under an economic partnership agreement will study Japanese in Indonesia before leaving for Japan, a government official said Wednesday. Mohamad Jumhur Hidayat, chairman of the National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers, told Kyodo News that "at the operational level, both countries have agreed" on the new arrangement. Under the proposed new arrangement, the Indonesian nurses and caregivers will study Japanese in Indonesia for four months and in Japan for two months. The first batch of 205 Indonesian caregivers and nurses, who left for Japan in August last year, has studied the language in Japan for a total of six months. Hidayat said that the "expensive training" in Japan is the reason behind the proposed new arrangement. "Currently, for a total of six months, Japan must pay about 100,000 yen for each nurse or caregiver during their language training, but under the new arrangement, the budget can be cut to half," he said. "Hopefully, the negotiations among the ministers will be completed by March," Hidayat said. Under the agreement, the Japanese government is to accept 200 nurses and 300 caregivers each year.

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