Kathmandu, March 11

The South Korean government has allotted the quota of workers that it will be hiring in 2020 under the Employment Permit System (EPS).

As per an agreement with Nepal, the South Korean government has agreed to hire 10,050 workers next year.

According to Krishna Prasad Khanal, director for EPS Section under the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, 3,000 Nepali workers will go to Korea in the agriculture sector and 7,050 workers will be employed in the manufacturing and production sectors.

“What we have to understand is that the figure that has been allocated by the South Korean government is not exactly a quota but the maximum number of workers that the destination could hire,” said Khanal.

“It could be less than 10,050 as it will depend on the number of workers who pass the language and skills tests.”

The EPS Section has informed that those aspiring to go to South Korea under EPS need to fill the online form from March 22 to 31. Khanal further said that the government will conduct the written examination on June 8 and 9 in Kathmandu and Pokhara.

According to the EPS Section, altogether 59,698 Nepali job aspirants have already gone to South Korea under the EPS programme. Among them, 56,153 are male and 3,545 are female workers. The government started to deploy Nepali migrant workers to South Korea from 2008.

The South Korean government has also introduced a skills test for Nepali migrant workers who are selected under EPS along with the existing language proficiency test from this year. The new provision of the skills test will come into effect for workers selected under EPS for 2020.

As per the new provision, the South Korean government has said that in the industrial category, the skills test will contribute 20 per cent to the total score and the remaining 80 per cent will be covered by the language test. Likewise, in the agriculture category, the skills test will cover 30 per cent of the total score and the language test will cover 70 per cent.

“As per the new system, Nepali migrant workers who aspire to go to South Korea will also have to do well in the skills test,” Khanal informed, adding that workers will not be eligible only through the language proficiency test.

Meanwhile, the other selection criteria for 2020 will remain the same as the existing one for 2019, said Khanal.