Indian Nurses and Teachers Want USA jobs
Indian Nurses and Teachers Want USA jobs
Date: Thursday, September 11, 2003 2:18 AM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
www.ZaZona.com
According to the first article, the US faces a shortage of 500,000
nurses. Indian nurses want these jobs because they only get paid $120 a
month in India.
Benefits of being an Indian nurse go a long way because there is a
great demand for them in the marriage market.
With all these marriages going on, there will be a need for teachers -
and of course India can meet that demand also.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3191525.stm
Indian nurses' American dream
By Habib Beary
BBC correspondent in Bangalore
Melody D'sa is ecstatic. Her dream has come true - a new life in
America.
Melody is among hundreds of Indian nurses heading to the States,
cashing in on a growing demand for trained nurses in the US.
The US, UK and Australia have all looked to India to provide nurses
because of shortages of staff.
The dream of working abroad has spawned a slew of training centres in
India.
Melody was taught at one of the popular training schools, Nurses
Anytime in Bangalore, which recruits for hospitals in the US.
I am looking forward to a new life out there
Melody D'sa
She believes she is ready for the challenges of moving to the US with
her family.
"I have always wanted to go abroad. I am looking forward to a new life
out there."
Her confidence springs out of having worked for nearly 15 years in
major Indian hospitals including St Martha's in Bangalore.
Like Melody, convent-educated Gloria Mohinani is also on her way to the
US.
"The money is good. We will have a better life," said Gloria, whose
husband and child are going too.
Financial incentive
"We will be paid $30 an hour in the US. Here the average salary for
nurses is about 6,000 rupees ($120) a month," said Melody.
Indian nurses working in the US are paid on par with their American
counterparts, meaning they take home around $3,000 plus a month.
That is reflected in the tide of applications at these training schools
which have sprung up across southern India including in Bangalore,
Bombay, Cochin, Coimbotore and Hyderabad.
Revathi Sunkara, director of Indian operations of Nurses Anytime, said:
"They are fed up with the poor pay here. The opportunity of a good life
is tempting."
Indian nurses are better equipped in terms of medical knowledge
Revathi Sunkara, Nurses Anytime
Nurses who pass the course get a Green Card, their airfare, temporary
housing and healthcare benefits.
The lure of money is driving hordes of nurses from the coastal state of
Kerala, where most Indian nurses hail from, to these training schools.
Over 10,000 nurses are said to be counting on jobs in the West,
Middle-East, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
These institutes make them "ready to go".
The training centres charge the trainees between $250 and $300.
Indian nurses are following in the footsteps of computer professionals,
thousands of whom left India to make their homes in the US.
Marriage prospects
Jainy John and Leny Matthew, both in their early 20s, are doing a
two-month course along with 70 other aspirants at Nurses Anytime.
"There is a rush, everybody wants to go the US," said Jainy.
Indian nurses are coming from as far away as the Gulf to receive
training so they can move abroad.
Candidates complete English language courses and the Commission on
Graduates of Foreign Nursing schools (CGFNS) test before they enter the
US.
The training programme includes cross-culture etiquette, accent
orientation, intonation, and smart grooming.
The trainees are also made computer literate.
"The tests are tough but we are working hard. If I pass, it means a new
life for us," said Jainy.
It also means a great demand for them in the marriage market.
Why India?
The US began to look at India as a source for nurses when the flow from
Canada, Ireland and the Philippines dried up.
It is estimated that the US faces a shortage of 500,000 nurses.
Revathi Sunkara said the US approached India because of the qualities
of the nurses there.
"Drive and dedication. Our nurses are hardworking."
The demand for nurses in the US is growing owing to the increasing
number of senior citizens.
Ms Sunkara said: "There is a huge elderly population who need medical
care. Indian nurses are better equipped in terms of medical knowledge.
"Our curriculum is on par with that of the US.''
The UK is also recruiting Indian nurses. More than 1,800 nurses joined
the NHS in Britain last year.
Narayana Hrudayalaya, a specialist heart care hospital in Bangalore, is
in talks with the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Canada to
train nurses for recruitment in the overseas market.
Patients from neighbouring countries - Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri
Lanka - flock to this hospital because of the quality of treatment it
offers.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/aug/27teachers.htm
Teachers may be next lot of professionals to leave India
Madhuri Sehgal in New Delhi | PTI | August 27, 2003 | 11:53 IST
Contrary to general perception that only Indian techies and
entrepreneurs are in demand globally, for the past couple of years, the
focus of Indian immigration has shifted to teachers who have joined the
gallery of India's 'global citizens.'
Experts say Indian teachers who have educational advantage over other
Commonwealth countries in subjects like English, Science and
Mathematics, have huge potential to tap new avenues in the field of
teaching globally.
"The trend in the field of IT (information technology) has given a
boost to the demand of Indian labour, but with the IT sector tottering
for last few years and laws in some of the developed countries limiting
overseas employment in the sector, focus has started to shift towards
other fields, like teaching and nursing," says K Pandian Rajan,
managing director, Mafoi, a leading recruitment agency in the country.
"Also with globalisation and Internet, English has become a global
language and under these circumstances countries like Germany and
France have realised that promoting local languages at the expense of
English would have disastrous consequences for their economy," says A K
Motwani, director (technical), Educational Consultants India Limited,
which sends hundreds of teachers abroad every year.
"So they have started looking towards India, which is known for its
high quality education and teachers who have good command over English
language," Motwani adds.
These days, the United States and the United Kingdom are also emerging
as new markets for Indian teachers, who earlier took teaching jobs in
non-English speaking countries in South-East Asia, Africa and the
Middle East.
According to a survey by the US education department, the country would
need more than a million teachers over the next decade.
"At present there are more than 22,000 teaching jobs up for the grabs
in the United Kingdom itself and an estimated 10 per cent of this are
for Indians," says Rajan.
Talking about the sudden spurt in demand for Indian teachers, Rajan
says, "In both these countries, teachers are poorly paid compared to
other professionals. The local population is reluctant to join the
profession hence the schools have started hiring teachers from India."
Typically, the school boards contact recruitment agencies which in turn
advertise the vacancies in India for qualified candidates.
After the applicants are vetted, school officials either come to India
or interview potential candidates over phone, or in some cases through
video-conferencing, before employing them.
But, experts say, the hurdles do not end with immigration, rather the
actual problem begins only after the teachers start teaching in their
new schools abroad.
"Although before teachers leave India, we brief them about the
conditions in the schools in the country they are immigrating and
adequately prepare them in communication and interpersonal skills,
essential to function in alien conditions, there have been cases where
teachers have found it difficult to adjust to the new atmosphere,"
Rajan says.
"From the feedback we have received from our teachers abroad, the
biggest difference they say is students in India are more disciplined
and respect the teacher a lot more. In western countries, class
management is the main issue because children there have far too many
distractions," Motwani adds.
On the flip side, the number of students in each class is much less as
compared to India and there are wonderful teaching tools such as
computers with Internet to overhead projectors, which are not available
in a large number of schools in India.
"Although the teaching aids available in the schools abroad are much
superior than those in India, there you go to school each day with a
blank heart. In India, we get real respect that a guru (teacher) should
get from a shishya (student)," says Sanjana Sharma, a teacher who
recently returned to India after completing her contract with a school
at Pennsylvania in the US.
But this has not dissuaded the teachers from accepting job offers
abroad and the money factor takes over. And if the trend continues with
its present pace, teachers may follow IT professionals and engineers as
the next group of professionals to leave India in large numbers.
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