DoLE sets standards for Japan caregiver interns

THE labor department has issued guidelines for recruitment of care workers for the Technical Intern Training Program In Japan, including language proficiency standards.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) issued Department Order No. 188-B or “Guidelines on the Implementation of the Organization for Technocal Intern Training Program in Relation to the Technical Intern Training (TIT) for ‘Care Worker’ job category.”
DoLE said in a statement on Friday that the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) “shall carry out the accreditation of supervising/implementing organizations to implement the TIT for the care worker job category.”
DO 188-B, signed by Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III on August 24, read that the ‘Care worker’ job category “shall be subject to Department Order No. 188 for the general guidelines and Department order 188-A for the verification guidelines of POLO (Philippine Overseas Labor Office)-Japan.”
In addition to the documentary requirements stated in Section 6 of DO No. 188, DO 188-B said that Qualifications of the Care Worker technical Intern Trainee are that the applicant must be at least 18 years old and be a first timer of the program. The applicant should also have at least one year’s work experience in the ‘care worker’ field or any similar profession here or overseas.
In lieu of work experience, DoLE said the applicant “must have a Caregiving NC II Certification from TESDA — Accredited training center or a four-year Bachelor’s Degree in a healthcare-related course, provided that they submit authenticated copies of diplomas and transcripts of records.”
DO 188-B also requires the trainee to “pass N4 level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test or its practical test equivalent” or “Score 350 or more in the E-F level test or 400 or more in the A-D test of the J.TEST (Test of Practical Japanese) Implemented by the Japan Language Examination Association or its practical test equivalent.” The trainee may also have attained at least level 4 of the Japanese NAT-TEST or its equivalent if the two other choices are not available.
The labor department said that trainees who fail to pass the N3 level within their first year of training “will be disqualified from completing the program and will be repatriated in accordance with Japanese regulations.” — Gillian M. Cortez