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Japanese editorial excerpts -2-+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TOKYO, Aug. 7_(Kyodo) _ Selected editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:
SHOT IN THE ARM OF NURSING CARE (The Japan Times, an English-language daily)
Under an economic partnership agreement between Japan and Indonesia, nurses and nursing care workers from Indonesia are arriving this week. As the number of aged people needing medical treatment and nursing care is increasing in this country, the Indonesians will be welcomed by hospitals and nursing care homes. But many people who came to Japan from developing countries under the Training Program for Foreigners are subjected to low wages and long working hours. Institutions concerned should take utmost care to ensure that Indonesian nurses and nursing care workers are not subjected to similar conditions.
One thousand Indonesian nurses and nursing care workers are supposed to come to Japan in two years. According to Jiji Press, only 226 people from Indonesia will arrive at first. After their arrival, they will receive Japanese language training and basic instruction in studies related to their jobs. Then they will work as assistant nurses and assistant nursing care workers.
It will not be easy for them to become full-fledged nurses and nursing care workers. Within four years of their arrival, they must pass national examinations given in Japanese. If they fail, they must go home. The government should consider the fact that the Philippines has not yet ratified a similar agreement on nurses and nursing care workers, saying the program is discriminatory.
If assistant nurses become full-fledged nurses, their wages will increase by more than 50 percent. But the wages for those who become full-fledged nursing care workers will not increase much. Unfortunately, the average wage of nursing care workers is less than 70 percent of that of ordinary workers.
The government and medical and nursing care institutions concerned should use the arrival of Indonesian nurses and nursing care workers as an opportunity to improve working conditions for nurses and nursing care workers in general. This would help draw back into these fields some 750,000 (Japanese) nurses and nursing care workers who are not working at present. Institutions should also pay due consideration to cultural and religious differences. (Aug. 7)
Copyright ? 2008 Kyodo News International, Inc.
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