Brain drain, as we all know, is the emigration of highly skilled and qualified individuals from a particular country. If you ask people, especially students, about their future plans, at least 7.0 out of 10 will say that they plan to move abroad for either educational or employment purposes. Bangladesh has been facing the problem of 'brain drain', which is impacting not only the economy but also its future prospects.
As we all know, the main cause is the lack of opportunities for people to build a good career at home. The number of qualified graduates exceeds the number of job opportunities available. Moreover, whatever jobs people manage to get are often underpaid and lack prospects of steady promotion. In Bangladesh, the only proper career path is seen as becoming a Bangladesh Civil Service (B.C.S.) cadre, and people who don't have their eyes set on this career path are looked at as lacking grit and motivation to succeed in life. Furthermore, nowadays, the trend is to leave right after completing high school or undergraduate studies, mainly due to the lack of high-quality education and research opportunities offered by universities in Bangladesh.
The impacts of brain drain include a lack of innovation and potential entrepreneurs. Moreover, this means that the country will also lack properly skilled and qualified workers to improve the economy. The outward surge of people to other countries creates a trend of emigration, which encourages more people to leave the country. As Bangladesh is still a developing nation, brain drain can adversely impact the economy and its future.
World Bank's 2021 statistics have revealed that Bangladesh has a score of 7.00 out of 10.00 in the "Human Flight and Brain Drain" category. Given the severity of the problem, the government of Bangladesh needs to come up with proper measures to tackle this.
The dream of moving abroad needs to be eliminated for the betterment of the country and its people because if this continues, Bangladesh will soon lack proper manpower, and the economy will suffer badly. Hence, the government, educational institutions, and different organizations need to step up to ensure that people are less inclined to move abroad.
Amme Myat
Student
North South University
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