Regarding the Sept. 2 article "Students shun nursing care": Having worked for four years in nursing care with no prior training, I can say that for general carers, which make up the bulk of the care sector, most of the job does not require any formal training beyond a grasp of common sense, and that which is required can be provided on the job.
My former job was supposed to provide me with a qualification for which I studied while working, but in fact this was a hindrance, not a help, as the course was teaching me things I already knew because I did them every day. If carers don't know 95 percent of what they need to know to do the job inside of two weeks, there's no way they'll last another two. In this way care jobs are ideally suited for people with less academic ability but plenty of people skills.
Thus I feel that the insistence on academic-based courses rather than vocation-based ones for this particular profession, in Japan or anywhere, is counterproductive. The key is provision of a good working environment plus effective and flexible management. That was what my job lacked and why I decided to learn Japanese instead.
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