In a question-answer session in parliament, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stated on Wednesday that in this age of globalisation, prevention of brain drain is a difficult task. She elaborated further by observing that brain drain was a continued process from the underdeveloped and developing countries. But her government's 'dedication, sincerity and various effective measures' have kept brain drain from the country under control, she claimed.
Is this the case? There is a globally accepted index for human flight and brain drain, which considers the economic impact of human displacement and the overall consequences of this on a country's development. The higher the indices the greater the brain drain. Now, how does Bangladesh fare in this human displacement index? Data show that the average value for the country between the year 2007 and 2022 was 7.72 index points with a minimum of 6.7 index points in 2022 and a maximum of 8.4 index points in 2007. Over the past five years, the trend is in favour of a consistent decline. In 2018, the index point was 7.90, the highest in the past eight years, but then it saw a gradual drop to 7.60 in 2019, 7.30 in 2020, 7.00 in 2021 and to 6.70 in 2022. Let it be noted here that the global average of brain drain index point based on 177 countries was 5.21 as against Bangladesh's lowest index point of 6.70 in 2022.
These declining brain drain indicators give credence to the prime minister's claim that development of the information and communication sector with rise in internet speed has prompted many talented young people to work from home instead of looking for jobs abroad. She has also maintained that creation of massive employment in all sectors, establishment of universities and government effort to evaluate meritorious people in their respective fields have all gone into preventing the flight of talents from the country.
True, a large number of private universities have created employment for above-average talented youths but certainly the more gifted ones feel the pull of enabling ambience of research, better opportunities for creative works in universities abroad. Bangladesh can ill afford losing such geniuses who are capable of making breakthroughs in the domain of science and technology. The best of the universities in Bangladesh cannot rank above 800 either on the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings or the Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings. Why? What goes most in their disfavour is the lack of research pursuit and production of world class research papers. Not only are the facilities inadequate but the engagement in research and experiments is found wanting so much so that the paltry allocation for such pursuance at the highest ranked Dhaka University cannot be spent.
Employment for higher educated young population leaves much to be desired. What is particularly galling is that there is a mismatch between the kind of higher education, barring a few disciplines, on offer at the universities here and the demand from the domestic employment market. This explains why foreign consultants and managerial executives have to be hired by the country's apparel sector and a few other sectors earning foreign exchanges.
The most important point is to make investment in education for turning it country-specific pragmatic. There is no point creating a large number of unemployable so-called higher educated youths. Instead, helping the average and above-average students build careers in productive sectors should be the prime task of schools and colleges. However, the more challenging task is to identify or spot the highly talented and inventive minds and nurture them for higher education.
With the information and communication technology leading today's industrial, business and economic enterprises and ventures, participation in the highest form of intellectual and inventive genres of education has become globally accessible. Sure enough, the tech-savvy young pool of Bangladesh has already made a mark in this particular field. But there are areas of fundamental research in order to exploit the benefits of science and technology. Apart from the tech-geeks, Bangladesh needs scientists like Dr. Gawsia Wahidunnessa Chowdhury and Dr. Senjuti Saha who have made it to the list of the 'best and brightest' of 100 Asian scientists for their respective scientific achievements.
The most savouring aspect is the fact that they conducted their research in laboratories at home and also came back to Bangladesh to do so. However, not all such probing talents find enough facilities to carry out their research work here. Still these two scientists' example will be an inspiration for others to have a look at the prospect of pursuing their dream for invention at home.
Although the prime minister has claimed that talented people are rewarded, there are instances of recruitment of university teachers with lower ranked achievers on the merit list purely on political considerations. The same allegedly happens in case of appointment and promotion in various government offices. When more talented people are snubbed, they feel encouraged to look for avenues to leave the country for better prospects. Let there be no such discriminations, if not for anything else, at least in the interest of protecting the nation's talent preserve. Last but not least, internet speed and reliability fall far short of the world standard.
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