Migrant Workers
South Korea introduces skills test
South Korea has introduced a skills test aimed at assessing and improving the competence of Bangladeshi migrants to that country, officials of the country’s human resources development (HRD) said yesterday.
The test involves evaluating Bangladeshi workers at three different levels — intelligence, physical fitness and language competence.
The HRD officials said this during a visit to the Bangladesh-Korea Technical Training Centre in the capital.
Until yesterday, job seekers had to pass only a written test to get a work permit there. But now, said the officials, they have to pass the new skills test as well.
Passing the test will increase their chances of employment in South Korea, Mohammed Shamsul Alam, chief administrative officer of the Korean HRD in the capital, told The Daily Star.
“Employers often found Bangladeshi workers unable to communicate properly, which prompted Korean authorities to introduce a spoken language test,” he added.
A list of successful candidates along with video clips of their language tests will be uploaded to a certain website so that employers can evaluate their competence online, he noted.
Choon-Bok Lee, vice president of the Korean HRD, said Bangladesh had a quota of sending 4,400 workers to South Korea last year, but only 1,768 qualified for jobs.
Now with a quota of 5000 workers, Bangladesh has a better window of opportunity, Lee added.
Presently, there are more than 12,000 Bangladeshi workers in South Korea, which recruits workers under Employment Permit System, a state arrangement to recruit foreign workers.
Bangladeshi workers spend $800 to go to the country for a job under the state arrangement. Their minimum monthly salary is $890, Lee said.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
