Korean applications going smoothly

9 August 2011 10:32 am

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) said that the ongoing issuing of exam applications for South Korean jobs is running smoothly after the chaos and disruption that took place at a number of application centres islandwide on Monday (August 8).

The issuing of applications was cut short on Monday at Police Park in Havelock Road on Monday owing to a stampede of thousands of job seekers many of whom stood outside the premises for more than 24 hours without food or sleep to get the exam applications.

Those between the ages 18 to 39 are eligible for job opportunities in South Korea if they pass the examination and are accordingly selected for jobs by the Korean government.

SLBFE Deputy General Manager, Mangala Randeniya said that the demand to sit for the exam has increased. He said 12,000 applications were issued on Monday while another 15,000 were to be issued today. He said the SLBFE hopes to issue another 15,000 applications due to the high demand.

The minimum monthly wage for Korean jobs are a minimum of Rs.99,000, Randeniya said. With added incentives and allowances the wage could rise to an estimated Rs.150,000 or more he said.

Randeniya said last year 26,000 job seekers sat for the examination out of which 5300 got through the exam and were eligible for jobs in Korea. Out of this number 3500 went to Korea for jobs and hundreds of those who were eligible form last years batch are also expected to go to Korea.

Applications are available at 28 centres island-wide from 8am to Thursday August 11 from 9am to 4pm. (Olindhi Jayasundere)