Kathmandu, September 20

Approximately 85 per cent of aspirants wishing to applying for jobs under the Employment Permit System (EPS) in South Korea appeared for the Korean Language Test (KLT) conducted on Saturday and Sunday.

A total of 51,137 individuals had applied for sixth KLT exam, basic requirement for EPS job, during application called in April. According to EPS Section Nepal, a total of 43,406 aspirants took part in the exam, while 7,619 remained absent and 112 fake examinees were arrested from different exam centres.

Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) officials said that only 7,100 job quota, stiff competition among applicants, ongoing unrest in different parts of the country and change in the exam date due to the recent earthquake are some factors behind 15 per cent applicants not appearing for exam. “The new constitution has raised hope among youth so some might have intentionally missed the test,” an official said.

Each applicant had paid $24 as fee for the test. The sixth KLT was conducted in 18 different centres including three in Pokhara. According to the EPS Korea Nepal, 22,611 took part in the exam on Saturday and 2,934 did not attend the test. Similarly, on Sunday, 20,795 were present and 4,685 applicants were absent. Last year in the fifth KLT exam, out of a total of 62,223 applications, only 5.32 per cent were absent.

Those passing the exam and other selection processes would be able to leave for EPS job in manufacturing and agriculture sectors starting January 2016, as per Dilli Ram Bastola, director of the EPS Section Nepal. As the EPS job is considered lucrative among foreign employment aspirants, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has also asked the Korean government to increase the quota for Nepal, as per DoFE.

Of the total 7,100 quota, 4,900 workers would be hired in manufacturing and 2,200 in agriculture sectors.  The DoFE data show that a total of 28,453 individuals including 1,723 females have received the opportunity to work in Korea under the EPS as of 2014. Nepal and Korea had signed an agreement for EPS provision in 2007.

Comparatively good salary, worker friendly labour laws and facilities, no discrimination among local and migrant workers, and provision of re-entry to Korea for work, among others are some major features that have attracted Nepali youths for EPS jobs. Government is also preparing to bring a scheme under which it plans to impart managerial training to EPS job returnees and provide bank loans at subsidised interest rates to help them become entrepreneurs.