POEA Temporarily Stops Accepting Female Applicants for EPS-TOPIK
Apr 17, 2013
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has ordered to temporarily freeze registration of female applicants for the Employment Permit System Test of Proficiency in Korean (EPS-TOPIK) scheduled in July this year due to slow demand of female workers in South Korea.
"There is a slow demand for women workers in Korea, hence the temporary stoppage of acceptance of applications for the EPS,” POEA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said.
According to Director General Jeong Eunhee of HRD Korea – EPS Center in the Philippines, there is a slow demand in factories and establishments for female workers in South Korea in contrast with an increased number of job opportunities to male applicants.
Based on the 2012 statistics, from the 9,372 number of EPS Roster of Applicants, only 3,109 workers received job offers and get deployed. About 96% of those deployed workers are male. Of the remaining 4, 943 names in the list, 1,481 are male and 3,462 are female.
Administrator Cacdac added that South Korea has assigned 7,900 labor quotas for the Philippines this year. With this, HRD Korea and POEA will conduct EPS-TOPIK in August 2013 to get more male workers.
However, Cacdac reminded all applicants that passing the EPS TOPIK will not guarantee an employment.
“It just gives the applicant a chance to be selected by Korean employers within the
validity of their TOPIK certificate of two years,” Cacdac said.
Meanwhile, voluntary leavers, or OFWs in Korea who had voluntarily come home to the Philippines after their contracts can register to take the computer-based Special TOPIK (S-TOPIK) at the CBT Center in POEA. Registration for S-TOPIK is on 16 to 19 April at the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) and in the POEA Regional Centers in La Union, Cebu and Davao. Announcement of test date will be on May 13, 2013 while the exam date will be on May 20, 2013.
Registration for the exam will be in POEA designated sites in NCR and South Luzon, North and Central Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao regions. Registration fee is USD24 or Php984.
