Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 16) — Only five months into the year, the country already sent more than half the maximum annual allocation of nurses overseas, according to data from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW)
“As of May of this year we are at the 4,000 mark,” DMW Sec. Toots Ople told CNN Philippines’ The Source on Friday. The annual allocation is 7,000.
Ople said demand for Filipino nurses is high in Canada, as well as in the United Arab Emirates and Vienna.
“It’s the choice of our experienced nurses which part of the world they want to go to,” she said.
Ople said she aims to have a dialogue with relevant agencies and other key players to come up with solutions that will encourage nurses to stay in the country.
“It will take a whole of government, whole of society approach. To stay here would be the most attractive choice because their families are here… We need to create opportunities for them to stay and look at quality of life issues,” the migrant workers chief said.
Ople said the agency is working on a scholarship program to assist nursing students from poor families.
This will be funded by partner countries and the private sector to be carried out by the Commission on Higher Education, she said. The DMW will help sourcing funds for the scholarship, she added.
Ople said the program will cover junior and senior nursing students.
She said the Canadian government has been tapped, and is just waiting for the Philippines side on the specific provisions of the program.
Other countries that have expressed willingness to contribute to the program fund are the United States, Japan, and Singapore.
Ople said she targets to have the agreement for the program signed before the end of June.
