Social recognition and brain drain

The 21st Century is destined to become a Knowledge Century with knowledge increasingly becoming a productive force. All countries including Sri Lanka aspire to move on to the knowledge society in their quest for development.

Sri Lanka is blessed with an intelligent populace. Its academics and students have won many an international award. Sri Lankan scholars such as Cyril Ponnamperuma and Malik Peiris have won distinction worldwide. There is a sizeable expatriate community of recognized academics and professionals.

In moving towards a knowledge society Sri Lanka should seek the assistance of these expatriates as well as resident scholars and professionals in the country. This fact is acknowledged publicly by policy-makers and politicians. Yet it is a moot point whether enough has been done to provide a conducive climate for academics and professionals to engage in their academic and scientific pursuits.

A survey done by the Labour Relations and Productivity Promotion Ministry’s Manpower and Employment Department researchers, however, reveal a disturbing picture. The Manpower Planning and Research Division of the Department had surveyed newspaper advertisements pertaining to employment vacancies appearing in two major Sunday newspapers - the Sunday Observer and the Silumina - during 2009.

The results of the survey reveal that in the private sector the salary range for University and higher education teachers was between Rs 20,001 and Rs 25,000. It was on par with those of financial or insurance services branch managers, manufacturing supervisors, building and related electricians, garment and related pattern-makers and cutters and elementary workers (unclassified) among others.

Meanwhile, commercial sales representatives, chefs, secretaries (general), accounting and bookkeeping clerks, among others received a salary within the range Rs 30,001 - 40,000. It is also common knowledge that a medical consultant in the Government service earns Rs 40,000 a month whereas advertising executives earn much more.

This shows that despite higher social recognition most of the academics and professional are economically appraised much lower than those engaged in less recognizable employment. In fact, it is a moot point whether the returns they receive in terms of financial benefits compensate for the State expenses and labour put in by the individuals concerned to reach high levels of academic and professional competence.

The situation looks further bleak if one compares their earnings to those of central and local level politicians with or without their dubious qualifications.

It is time to halt the rhetoric and take concrete measures to raise the emoluments of academics and professionals so far inadequately compensated and provide them with all facilities necessary for them to pursue their academic and research activities.

No country could prosper, leave alone moving towards a knowledge society if it does not spend sufficiently on R & D and invest heavily on human resources development. All countries that developed rapidly including China, Korea, Malaysia had invested roughly about 10 percent of their GDP on human resources development, if not more. Sadly we do not spend even half that figure.

It is in this context that a revamp of our entire education system and particularly tertiary education become an urgent imperative. It is naive to believe that a mere opening of the education sphere to the private sector would cure all the ills. Whether private or public all tertiary education institutions should be brought under a regulatory authority which would set academic and managerial standards.

There is also the danger of the private sector drawing the teaching staff of State universities by providing higher salaries and other incentives. This has to be averted at all cost. What is involved is not just increasing the salaries of academics but providing the universities with adequate funding for research and development too. It is also necessary to integrate the universities with industry and community rather than maintaining them as elitist conclaves.

Also important is the creation of a democratic environment where dissent is not suppressed but free academic discourse is permitted and encouraged so as to let thousand flowers bloom, if one is to borrow a phrase from the Maoist lexicon.

It is such a policy that could stop the brain drain and also ensure a reverse flow of academics and professionals from abroad to the country.