Korean language test form submission begins
KATHMANDU, APR 17: Youths eyeing jobs in South Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS) have started submitting their applications to appear in the Korean Language Test.
Today, the first day for application submission, a total of 17,438 aspirants applied for the test.
It is mandatory for applicants to pass the language exam with higher marks to be selected for further procedure to go to Korea for jobs.
EPS Korea Section of the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) stated that it received a total of 10,103 applications from five centres in Kathmandu Valley and 7,335 applications from another five exam form collection centres established outside the Valley.
In the Valley, aspirants can submit applications from Nepal Ved Vidhyashram Sanskrit Secondary School (Gaushala), Kathmandu Valley Higher Secondary School (Maharajgunj), Laboratory Higher Secondary School (Kirtipur), Mahendra Aadarsha Higher Secondary School (Satdobato) and Chyasal football ground in Balkumari, Lalitpur.
The EPS Korea Section said that applicants living outside the Valley can submit applications at the collection centres established in Dharan Sabhagriha (Dharan), Janakpur Cigarette Factory (Janakpur), Butwal Exhibition Centre (Butwal), Bindhabasini Higher Secondary School (Pokhara) and Karmachari Milan Kendra (Dadheldhura). Youths aged 18 to 39 years are eligible to attend the language test and submission fee has been fixed at $24 (approximately Rs 2,400).
The centres will collect forms from 8:00am to 5:00pm till Sunday. Applicants screened from the language test and other processes will be able to leave for Korea under 2016 lot. The EPS Korea Section officials said that from the exam to be conducted on June 13 and 14, a total of 7,100 aspirants are expected to be selected, with 4,900 applications in manufacturing and 2,200 in agriculture and livestock sectors.
With more aspirants not being able to pass the exam last year, the number of applicants is likely to go beyond 60,000 this year too. Of the total 62,514 applicants who filed applications for the test last year, only 3,663 (6.2 per cent) had passed the exam.
This is the sixth year the Korean language test is being held to send workers under EPS quota that started in 2008.