RAMESH SHRESTHA

Youths seeking employment opportunities in South Korea today endured baton charges, rain and muddy fields as they waited for their turn in serpentine queues to submit application for the Korean Language Test.

On the first day to submit applications, 19,549 individuals thronged form collection centres at seven places around the country to take the language test scheduled for September 26-27. As the crowd was hard to manage, police had to resort to baton charge at a centre in Chyasal, Lalitpur. However, there was no report of serious injury or casualty, according to Budhi Bahadur Khadka, spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Chyasal is also the centre where the highest number of applications, 4,262, were submitted. Many youths eyeing jobs in Korea under the Employment Permit System had started queuing up at form collection centres last night. The last day for submission of applications is Sunday. 

“Based on the response seen today, we expect over 50,000 people to apply for the test this year,” said Khadka. Last year, over 47,000 individuals had submitted forms and 44,140 had appeared in the exam. Of these, 8,051 passed the language test. 

Nepali youths have been leaving for Korea under the EPS quota since 2008. So far, around 20,000 Nepalis have reached the country under this provision. One of the primary attractions of employment under EPS quota is relatively decent pay package, as every worker can easily earn a monthly salary of over Rs 70,000.

Keeping in mind the interest of youths in Korean jobs, the government this year established form collection centres at seven places around the country, including three — Chyasal Football Ground (Lalitpur), Acme Engineering College (Sitapaila) and Laboratory Higher Secondary School (Kirtipur) — in the Kathmandu Valley. Applications are also being collected from four centres outside the Valley — Dharan Sabhagriha, Butwal Exhibition Mandap , Bindhabasini Higher Secondary School (Pokhara) and Karmachari Milan Kendra (Dadeldhura).

Dilli Ram Bastola, director at EPS Korea Section of the Department of Foreign Employment, said response was overwhelming on the first day. According to him, 11,413 applications were collected from three centres in the Valley, 2,965 from Butwal, 2,727 from Pokhara, 2,110 from Dharan and 334 from Dadeldhura.

This is the fifth Korean language test being held to send workers under EPS quota and those who pass the language test will be eligible for jobs in manufacturing and livestock sectors in South Korea. Even as the language test is vital for getting Korean jobs, DoFE said the test does not guarantee employment. The result of the exam will be published on October 15.

In the last fiscal year, 3,128 individuals left for South Korea under EPS quota, according to the DoFE.

Published on: 14 August 2014 | The Himalayan Times