JAKARTA — Indonesia's nursing association has called on the Japanese government to be more flexible in the national nursing exam so more foreign nurses can pass it and work in the nation.

Achir Yani, president of the Indonesian National Nurses' Association, made the call following a recent announcement by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry that only three nurses — two from Indonesia and one from the Philippines — passed this year's exam.

They were among 254 foreigners who took the exam in February and are the first successful applicants. Last year, none of the 82 foreign applicants passed.