The cycle of closures which accompanied universities during the mid and late 90's, created a sudden boom of travelling overseas for study. While UK, Australia, USA and India remain the biggest destinations, other countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Dubai are fast becoming education hubs.
Another phenomena which almost inadvertently followed, was a large number of new graduates finding employment else where.
The Sri Lankan economy is currently going through an alarming phase brought upon by bad economic and monetary policies, and the massive expenditure that the war effort calls for. This is reflected in the extremely high rate of inflation which results in a high cost of living, which is not helped by the fact that Sri Lanka's salary scales as a third world country who have are not on par with international rates.
For people who've paid large amounts of money for their education in other countries, it is not financially lucrative to remain in the country. Another reason that many cite, is the lack of employment opportunities for some specialized field. Take the example of Manahari (22). She's a graduate in Biochemistry and Genetics. She is currently interning in Sri Lanka, but says she will move abroad in search of employment prospects because Sri Lanka does not have a developed BioChem industry.
The other main issue is the security situation. For people hailing from ethnic minorities, the hassle and the harassment are sometimes simply not worth it.
Arjun (21), an ethnic Tamil who is studying in India says he won't be working in Sri Lanka following his studies. "My parents don't want me to stay here because of the security situation and the ethnic issue." He says that the starting salaries in Sri Lanka are also low compared to other countries. "I will go somewhere and work. I'll probably come down for holidays," but he went on to say that he won't live in Sri Lanka.
Whilst the economic issue is due to bad policy, and therefore can be rectified, a mental state which has been carved over decades cannot be changed over a couple of years. It will take decades or more for the wounds to heal, and the scars to fade, and by that time, the damage would have been done, if it's not already.
For Adilah (19) who is just finishing her A/Ls, it's a series of "if"s. "If my exam results turn out well, and if the prospects of foreign education is better than studying in Sri Lanka, then I would go." And the return for her also depends on a big "if." "If the security situation improves, I won't hesitate to come back," she says while considering to study journalism.
Another aspect of the issue is about the products of Sri Lanka's free education system, that move to other countries. The phenomenon known as brain drain, or human capital flight, is when a large emigration of individuals with technical skills or knowledge takes place. In the case of Sri Lanka, this can be attributed to conflict, lack of opportunity and political instability. A brain drain is usually regarded as an economic cost, since emigrants usually take with them the fraction of value of their training sponsored by the government.
Either way, some of the smart minds of the country are moving away. And while it would be a warm and nice feeling to ask them to stay out of patriotism, it would be blind patriotism, and not practical.
|
E-mail