More Pinoy nurses pass Germany’s licensure exam
More Filipino nurses passed Germany’s licensure examination and now qualified to work there, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced last Friday.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said 30 more Filipino nurses are now registered nurses in Germany after passing the state’s examination.
Based on the report of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Baldoz said, there are 47 deployed nurses who are yet to take the state’s licensure examination.
Seventy Filipino nurses are undergoing language training and 114 others are either waiting for language training, looking for an employer, or awaiting deployment.
The Philippines earlier forged with Germany an agreement for the deployment of at least 500 Filipino nurses and other health care workers for the first year of the program’s implementation.
Prior to hiring, the qualified applicants must undergo language training for six months.
Meanwhile, Baldoz said, the POEA approved a resolution allowing private recruitment agencies to recruit and deploy Filipinos to Germany without collecting placement fees.
Under the new resolution, recruitment agencies shall not collect placement fees from applicants, but they are allowed to charge service fees from the employers.
Other fees to be paid by the employer are for Preparatory German Language, visa, POEA processing fee, OWWA contribution and airfare.
Recruitment agencies are required to pay for the nurse’s compulsory insurance coverage while applicants have to pay for their passport, medical tests, government clearances and membership with Philhealth and Pag-IBIG.
The resolution, Baldoz said, is expected to pave the way for the immediate hiring and deployment of more nurses to Germany outside the Triple Win Project forged between the Philippines and Germany.
“The high demand for professional nurses in Germany, one of Europe’s largest and most stable economies, made the issuance necessary,” Baldoz said.
Baldoz, however, stressed that the recruitment and placement of Filipino nurses to Germany by private recruitment agencies shall be in accordance with existing rules and regulations of the POEA.