The Labor Department is pushing for an intense Japanese language training program for all Filipino nurses and caregivers who want to work in Japan. This is part of the agency's effort to solve the extremely low passing rate of Filipino nurses and caregivers in the licensure examination in Japan.

According to the Labor Chief, Rosalinda Baldoz, only 1.2 percent of the foreign applicants who recently took the exam got a passing mark. This is even a slight improvement because no one in all the foreign applicants who took the exam passes last year. Apparently the low passing rate is due to the fact that the examinees found it so difficult to understand the kanji and technical terms that are written in Japanese.

With an intense language training program, Baldoz hopes that the number of successful examinees from the Philippines will increase. The Japanese government requires all the foreign medical workers in their country to take and pass a licensure examination.

Baldoz seek the assistance of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Japan for the language training program.Maria Luz Talento, Officer-in-Charge and Welfare Officer of POLO in Japansaid that to be successful, the language program should focus on developing the communication skills of the students rather than simply teaching language skills. Talento added that even though Filipino nurses and caregivers in Japan can speak Japanese, they lack the skills needed to effectively communicate verbally to their colleagues and superiors in Japan.

The POLO officer explained that the Japanese culture has a specific set of regulations and principles regarding the proper way of communicating especially in their workplaces. This is common in any other cultures.

Knowledge of the proper way of communication will avoid cross-cultural misunderstandings and will improve interpersonal relationships in the workplace. For this reason, Talento said that the new language training program should include an occupation-specific language and communication skills training program form of labor market support including but not limited to, orientations about workplace diversity, Japanese legal system, and Japanese workplace culture with topics on verbal and non-verbal communication, work values and expectations, and work relationship. This would also help Filipino workers in Japan improve their job performance.