Japan to Expand Grants to Increase Certified Care Workers

August 17, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's welfare ministry plans to expand grants to make it easier for people with elderly nursing care experience to take training necessary to gain care worker certifications, officials said Thursday.

The ministry will revise an employment insurance subsidy program for people who take work-related training. Following the change, seen taking effect in April next year, those eligible will receive grants worth up to 70 pct of the costs for taking practitioner training, or up to 560,000 yen per year.

The move is aimed at encouraging career advances of care workers and reducing personnel turnover amid manpower shortages in the country.

To be a certified care worker, applicants need to pass a national examination after graduating from educational institutions, including universities, two-year colleges and vocational schools, or working as a caregiver for at least three years.

Applicants of the latter type need to take 450 hours of practitioner training, including on the country's nursing care insurance system, to take a national exam.

The subsidy program covers part of the costs for taking training by educational institutions that meet ministry-set standards. Grants are paid after the completion of training.

Grants are given for various training courses, including those for nurses, nursery teachers and computer-related workers. Workers must join the employment insurance for a minimum of three years to become eligible for the grants.

Currently, the subsidy program has two types of grants.

One is for general educational training for employment promotion, covering 20 pct of the training costs, or up to 100,000 yen per year.

The other one is for specialist training for medium- to long-term career development. This type covers 50 pct of the costs usually and 70 pct if those taking such training obtain certifications and land jobs.

The ministry decided to add practitioner training for elderly nursing care workers to the list of training covered by the specialist type, officials said.

The ministry hopes the move will facilitate comebacks by retired caregivers who quit for child rearing and other reasons, as the elderly nursing care industry suffers an intensifying labor shortage. Jiji Press