JAKARTA—The bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement between Tokyo and Jakarta, under which Japan is extending opportunities to Indonesian nurses to work in Japan, has now entered its seventh year.
But boosting the pass rate for the state nursing exam among non-Japanese and allowing nurses from overseas to put down roots in the country remain challenges. On June 24, the government announced a new growth strategy that advocates a society in which foreign nationals can flourish, touching upon the possibility of improving residency status, among other points. Against this background, what has become of the elite nurses who have returned to Indonesia with their dreams in tatters?
On June 15, a going-away party was held in Jakarta for the 187 nurses and care workers who comprised the seventh wave of such EPA candidates. Speaking in Japanese, 23-year-old Harisman admitted feeling both hopeful and anxious, saying, “Leaving my family and friends behind is very sad, but I’m determined to do my best.” The elite nurses passed their qualification exams in Indonesia and already have two years of on-the-job experience. They also have prior training in Japanese, having studied for six months to bring their skills to a level at which they can hold daily conversations. However, once they reach Japan, they will face harsh realities: In the past six years, 1,048 individuals have taken part in the EPA program, but because of the language barrier, the overall EPA passing rate for the state nursing exam is only about 24 percent. Those who fail the test lose their right to remain in Japan and must return home.
Indah’s success story
“Hello, this is Indah speaking. How may I help you?” says Indah Agustina in fluent Japanese. Based in a high-rise building in south Jakarta, the 34-year-old works for WellBe, a Japanese medical care support firm. Fielding urgent calls from Japanese residents, Indah uses her language and liaison skills to deal with such tasks as helping callers find appropriate hospitals to deal with accidents and illnesses.
Indah—an avid fan of NHK serial drama series “Oshin” when it aired overseas—was among the second batch of EPA nurse candidates. After studying as an international student at a nursing college in the Philippines, she was keen to further her training, which ultimately brought her to Japan in 2009. However, as she did not have the appropriate qualifications, she spent most of her days cleaning bed handrails at the hospital where she worked. “I was only allowed to assist in nursing-related work, such as sponging down patients’ bodies or helping them use the toilet,” she says. “I began to despair, thinking, ‘What on earth am I doing [here]?’”
Indah sent most of her monthly post-tax income of ¥140,000 back home to her husband, who had quit his job to look after the couple’s two young sons. Meanwhile, she also threw herself into her studies, but failed the national nursing exam three times. “Japanese is difficult to understand when the text is long. Even though you get extra time [as part of measures to help non-Japanese], this makes no difference if you come up against something you really don’t understand,” she reflects. Though instilled with a sense of pride in being a nurse, Indah says she felt her nursing skills alone were not enough to overcome the challenges she met. “Patients would say to me, ‘I’ll die if you go home,’ which stopped me from going back,” she recalls. However, finally unable to bear being separated from her family, she returned to Indonesia last year.
Upon returning home, Indah initially found work at the national hospital where she was previously employed, taking home a monthly pay package of only about ¥40,000, slightly above Indonesia’s minimum wage. However, at the end of last year, with her confidence waning, a friend suggested that she try to make use of her Japanese language skills. As a result, she switched jobs, doubling her income in the process. “While I was in Japan, I learned to speak with consideration for the perspective of the patients and to be very punctual [in the workplace]. And even though I flopped the exams, I’m quite content right now,” she says with a broad smile.
One of Indah’s coworkers, 27-year-old Sisca Romauli, passed the national nursing exam, but eventually opted to return home. “I really wanted to continue working in Japan, but my mom was saying ‘Please come home,’ so I returned to be with my family after three years in Japan,” she says.
Trainees valuable back home
More than 1,500 Japanese companies are operating in Indonesia today, and a growing number of the Indonesian nurses who return home after taking part in the Japan-Indonesia economic partnership program have found work at these companies.
The total number of such nurses is unclear. Among a group of 475 who have returned to Indonesia, however, more than half are believed to have found work with Japanese companies. Some found jobs within different industries, such as Honda Motor Co. and sanitary goods maker Unicharm Corp.
For some nurses, finding a job in a Japanese company in Indonesia after the EPA program has opened new career paths. The companies, for their part, have been very grateful for the former EPA program participants.
“They have knowledge and expertise, and they are diligent and polite. They understand Japan well, which helps them put down roots in Japanese companies,” said an official at Japanese medical care support firm WellBee Holdings Ltd. WellBee has 10 medical staffers, all of them nurses who returned from Japan after taking part in the EPA program. As more and more Japanese medical organizations are expected to enter Indonesia, there are growing expectations for the trainees, who have the potential to be great assets to the organizations as nurses or clerical staffers.
Meanwhile, some of the EPA program participants have not given up their dreams of working in Japan. Muhammad Sholihin, 30, made a second attempt at the national exam for caregivers this year after returning home, and passed.
“I wanted to study nursing at first, but I couldn’t apply for the job due to a condition requiring two years of work experience. So I chose caregiving work. Kanji characters and technical terms are difficult,” Sholihin recalls. “I’ll think about my future from now on. I want to study more and take a certification test as a care manager. I’ll work in Japan for about five years and then think about whether to return to Indonesia.”
However, only a small number of nurses give the exams a second try. The Japanese government attempts to encourage failed nurse and caregiver candidates to take the exams again through such measures as mock test programs.
Only about 30 nurse candidates have retaken the exam, and just two have passed it so far. The low numbers appear to be due to the fact that applicants have to pay their own travel and accommodation expenses, unless they can find a sponsor.
“Nurses who took part in the EPA program and their families have high social status. Even though they can receive financial support to do so, it is difficult for them to abandon that and return to Japan,” said Purwaningshi, chairman for the international cooperation department of the Association of Indonesian Nurse Education Center.
Meanwhile, some officials related to the nursing industry in Indonesia have voiced such complaints as “Japan has co-opted human resources that we brought up and trained.”
Japan bears costs
Problems inherent in the system have come to light through its application.
If nurses opt to return home after passing Japan’s difficult national examinations, that is Japan’s loss. But family concerns, and Islamic customs that encourage people to marry by age 30 partly explain that choice. “It’s necessary to create an environment in which nurse candidates can bring their families or partners to Japan after obtaining certifications,” said Akiko Asai, an associate professor at J.F. Oberlin University.
Under the Japan-Indonesia EPA, Indonesia requested that Japan develop nurses in exchange for a review of tariff barriers. Japan accepted their request, as well as the burden of expenses.
The system has also been employed by other bilateral economic partnership programs, causing Japan to spend a total of ¥2 billion this fiscal year. There have been calls to review the current system under which Japan shoulders all the expenses, including travel expenses and Japanese-language training costs.
However, it is apparently difficult for the countries that send trainees to accept related economic burdens. One expert suggested, “The government should seek financial contributions from Japanese companies overseas that hire former EPA program participants and use those funds for training and other expenses.”
Indonesian nurse uses skills learned in Japan - The Japan News
