Daily Times

The ratio of Pakistani students among international students in world’s highly ranked institutes and research centres is a manifestation of the talent of Pakistani youth. The involvement of two Pakistanis in the recent and huge breakthrough, gravitational waves research, in the field of Physics, is another demonstration of the immense talent of Pakistani students. However, unfortunately, majority of Pakistani students who study abroad, do not return to their country. Even those who are working in Pakistan leave the country in search of good career opportunities in the developed countries. The ‘brain drain’ is on its peak and the migration of smart and highly skilled people to the greener life pastures is on the rise.

The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) is trying its best to minimise or stop this outward flux, but all the efforts made by the HEC are going in vain. The past experiences of scholarship holders with the HEC are not very positive. In the past, around 177 MPhil and PhD scholars failed to complete their degrees, while around 110 students did not return to Pakistan after the completion of their studies, as they got settled in western countries. It is difficult for the HEC to lure these scholars back to complete their MPhil and PhD studies or to return to Pakistan after completion of their degrees. We need to examine the root causes of this brain drain. The HEC need to devise a more comprehensive strategy to stop this brain drain. It also needs to learn from its past experiences.

It is not surprising that majority of Pakistanis who get education in the west do not want to return. A 2000 survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan showed that most of Pakistani adult population wanted to go abroad for higher education; however, half of them did not want to return to Pakistan after completion of their education. Highly educated Pakistani adults argue that they do not want to return due to lack of job opportunities, career growth, and law and order situation.

It looks impossible to stop this flux without the serious involvement of government and funding agencies. Government of Pakistan needs to make sure that Pakistani scholars who complete their education abroad get good job opportunities in the country. They are offered positions on merit. They are given managerial positions to apply their knowledge in Pakistan. Government also needs to offer them good salaries so that they could maintain a good life standard.

Unfortunately, self-centred politics in the educational institutions and government’s attitude towards education sector are making even the most patriotic among us to accept the offers made by universities and organisations in the developed countries. It is relative easier to lure Pakistani graduates back if government introduces reforms in the education sector. Government also needs to ensure that proper research guidelines are followed in the publication of research papers. It doesn’t make any sense to promote those who got their research published in Pakistan while ignoring those scholars who got their work published in the reputed journals across the globe.

The promises made by government for the increase of education budget remain a game of figures. If we look closely at the budget, we will find out that government is investing very little in the education sector, especially in the field of science and technology. The promises made by successive governments were not fulfilled. After 2001, all these governments developed many new universities. However, after establishment those universities were ignored. Government failed to ensure that the newly established universities provided quality education. Usually, people were hired in those universities on political basis. Government failed to recruit highly educated Pakistanis in these universities on good positions.

It looks like the motto, Education for All, is still under process that needs rocket science for execution and implementation. Practical steps can only be possible if ‘collective insanity’ is discarded to neutrally analyse the ways for betterment of humanity and nation without any personal and political agenda.

Politicians are flogging the horse of ‘key to advancement’ in an arbitrary direction that results into nothing. Pakistan came into being in 1947, but we still exist in an old era. After 69 years of independence, we still do not see any hope of bright future. Currently, it does not seem that our motherland is the achievement of millions of sacrifices. The state is facing many internal and external problems of gigantic magnitude. Pakistan is not a poor country but can be called a ‘poorly managed country’. The motherland remains in the hands of those who do not appreciate the sacrifices of people of this state inside boundaries, who are always ready to redraw the borders with their blood. Instead the leadership of every aeon looks beyond the boundary for partners and for commerce and trade.

Education is a hard parameter to isolate from politics because it is a fact that many leadership attributes can be gained through education. An uneducated leader cannot cope with the development and advancement in science and technology. It is an uncontested fact that the decisions of an educated leader are the key to development of a nation. Policies made by an educated leader can turn society into a literate and perceptive entity. And that leads to fair, legal and transparent democratic practice and, ultimately, a mature, learned and cultivated political system.

The writer is a Research Scholar (PhD) at Kyungpook National University South Koreaand a Lecturer in Physics at University of Wah, Pakistan (Currently on study leave)