Brain Drain Heads for Crisis: Study
Source: The Herald (Harare)
Date: 27 September 2005
Author: Anon
Zimbabwe's brain drain could be headed for a major crisis point with research indicating that 500 000 of the country's mainly professional cream has left the country.
But the majority of them are home sick, according to researchers.
The researchers, the Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre, a quasi-Government organisation, however, believes that this figure could be a gross underestimation of the actual number after only 479 348 questionnaires were returned from a batch of over a million that were dished out.
And without a comprehensive human resource database, speculators have pegged the total number of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora at some debatable three million.
It is, however, estimated that there are more than five million people of Zimbabwe's 12 million population who are in the working age group.
"The study was able to establish that there are 479 348 Zimbabweans in the Diaspora although the study team is aware that there is a large number of Diasporans that it could not contact," says the SIRDC research.
Painting a gloomy picture of the problem, the study says there are roughly 20 000 scientists and engineers in Zimbabwe.
But the number of Zimbabwean-born scientists and engineers working in the Diaspora is far much higher than that still working in the country.
"One reason for there being fewer scientists left in Zimbabwe is that Government and private-sector spending on research and development is only about 0,2 percent of the gross national product," indicates the study.
Most of the respondents to the study held bachelors' degrees, followed by polytech graduates while 20 percent held masters degrees, and five percent held PhDs.
But the health and teaching professions, already being decimated by the HIV/Aids pandemic at home, were the most affected by emigration, while accountants constitute a significant 16,9 percent proportion of the total number of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora.
Contacted to elaborate on the research, Professor Christopher Chetsanga said: "The major problem we ran into is that many of the people refused to be interviewed.
"In South Africa and the UK (Britain), for example, they thought we would blow the whistle on them because they were staying illegally in those countries."
Prof Chetsanga himself lived in the US for 23 years as a university professor.
In the absence of reliable data on the country's manpower base, SIRDC has urged the Government to launch a comprehensive National Human Resources Survey (NHRS).
The survey would help "ascertain the current human resource base and employment situation in all the sectors of the economy to enable them to make informed projections of future human resources requirements for the country".
While the Government has acknowledged the potential crisis situation facing the nation, it is disputing some of the figures being peddled by independent researchers.
"The issue of skills flight is of great concern to us and strategies should be put in place to convert the brain drain," Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education said in his closing remarks at a recent National Manpower Advisory Council symposium in Victoria Falls.
In a separate interview with The Herald, Dr Ndlovu said: "The fact of the matter is that we accept that there is a brain drain. But we have the problem of statistics. The question is how have they (researchers) counted them.
"I agree we are losing professionals. We cannot really complain of people going away when we are failing to cater for their needs here. But that must be addressed and addressed quickly."
Dr Ndlovu said the Government has formulated strategies meant to mitigate and reverse the brain drain that include the development of a Cabinet paper on measures to address the issue of critical skills retention by providing attractive incentives.
The Government has already adopted the paper.
"We should take care of our professionals. If we don't we have only ourselves to blame when they leave," said Dr Ndlovu.
However, the SIRDC report concludes that "even if brain drain is a valid concern, the main thrust of public policies in Zimbabwe should be driven by objectives of domestic equity, efficiency and economic growth rather than becoming hostage to the threatening waves of emigration.
"Erecting legal barriers to the emigration of educated professionals will only encourage illegal emigration and discourage bright Zimbabweans from seeking to better themselves through overseas education in the first place.
"Enacting necessary economic reforms that make staying at home attractive and rewarding for educated Zimbabweans can arrest the brain drain problem. There is no alternative to this option if the brain drain is to be arrested."
The study says although over half of the respondents emigrated due to work-related factors, about a quarter emigrated for education purposes, a tenth gave marriage/relationship factors while 8 percent mentioned political reasons.
However, the most common work-related reasons for emigrating given by 34,5 percent of the respondents, were the low salaries in Zimbabwe, followed by the exchange rate mentioned by 32,5 percent, while 29 percent gave better career advancement opportunities.
While 62,5 percent of respondents intended to return to Zimbabwe, about a quarter were unsure.
"All those in the clergy expressed a desire to come back to Zimbabwe after five years. Half of the farmers would like to come back within two years. Half of the nurses would like to return after five years, while 37,5 percent of engineers would like to return within two years.
"Nearly half of the respondents in the middle age group clusters of 30-39 and 40-49 years were not sure about when they were going to return home. About 40 percent and 33 percent of the young (20-29 years) and old (over 50 years) expressed a desire to return to Zimbabwe within the next two years. Less than a third of respondents in all age groups indicated a desire to return to Zimbabwe within three to five years," says the report.