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Recently,
the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov, has called brain drain one of
the main challenges to the economy of Kazakhstan, and encouraged the government
to consider this issue, Tengrinews reports.
With the beginning
of the globalization process the problem of brain drain in developing countries
has become acute. 15-20 per cent of university graduates leave Kazakhstan in
search of the opportunity of self-realization (Zhatkanbayeva, et. al., 2012). According
to Atabayev (2012), the highest number of specialists (9,428) of technical background
left the country from 2009 to 2010. This issue should be addressed at the state
level as it can cause a threat to national security as well.
As one could suggest, the main reason for brain drain
in Kazakhstan is the lack of governmental financial support for research projects
and low salaries of scientists. This is true to some extent, but this is not
the main reason for their leaving. Even with this available financing its
allocation is not always sufficient and effective, which refers to the poor
work organization and management. A good example of it is redundant bureaucracy
that distracts scientists from their initial scientific work. Whereas in the
USA, for instance, graduate students or scientific workers are at most protected
from unnecessary bureaucracy, and there are secretaries who are responsible for
this work.
I agree with Kanat Nurov (the president of the
“Aspandau” foundation), who claims that Kazakhstan lacks the scientific
environment and investment climate (for more details follow the link here). He states
that love of truth and science far outweighs a patriotic and civil state of
mind and makes those people to pursue it in the developed countries. This issue
is closely related to education because only the nexus of education and science
can lead to the creation of the scientific environment and scientific progress.
As for the investment climate, in order to invest money in scientific research the
specific legal base should be created that would protect and guarantee the
rights of the investors.
If we talk about other reasons for brain
drain, it is obvious that the natural sciences in the developed countries such
as the USA, England, Germany, France, and some Asian countries have gone far
ahead including their diversity of science. The number of laboratories and research
centers is much larger, and coverage in different areas of science is more
extensive.
To sum up, the main reasons for
brain drain in Kazakhstan are the lack of scientific environment and investment
climate as well as poor organization of work. Special attention should be paid
to the formation of secondary and higher education and the nexus between
science and education based on international practice.
References
Atabayev, D.
(2012). Retrieved from: http://rus.azattyq.org/content/migration-shots-nurymbetov-statistican/24584251.html
Zhatkanbaeva,
A., Zhatkanbaeva, J., & Zhatkanbaev, E. (2012). The Impact of Globalization on “Brain Drain”
in Developing Countries. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 47,
1490-1494.
Thank you Arna, for such interesting topic. Brain drain is one of the burning issues in Kazakhstan. Unfortunately, the government can`t provide good conditions for young researchers, so they have no choice as only leave the country and find better life abroad. Bolashak program allocates billions of money to educate brilliant students in the best universities all around the world, but doesn`t worry about the future life of graduates: what will they do in Kazakhstan? Who will help them to be hired on job? How can they apply their knowledge in the mother-land? and etc.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the government should develop a plan to solve the problem of providing good research bases for young scholars.
I agree that brain drain is one of the important issues for Kazakhstan. Talking about Bolashak graduates particularly, I believe that it is not only about providing all necessary conditions for these graduates, but also about each individual’s responsibility and respect for their home country, which paid for educating them in top universities of the world. One of the issues with Bolashak graduates is their detachment from Kazakhstani realities. Most of them seem to come back with unrealistic expectations in terms of job market and opportunities. Therefore, it might be helpful to establish partnership with local companies and businesses who will be interested in not only hiring such professionals, but also sending their employees to be educated by Bolashak program. Moreover, realistic data on Kazakhstan’s job market at the moment and in coming 10-20 years should be developed. Such measures might help to ensure that we are educating the professionals in compliance with the needs of the country, which in its turn will help to decrease unemployment rates.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post.
ReplyDeleteBrain drain is mostly the problem for developing countries, I think, and the main thing to do in this case is think why people leave? conduct research and find out to prevent this flow. Otherwise, this will become a vicious circle of never ending hunting for better specialists and your own talents leaving the country in search of better conditions.
Nice post! I agree with Zhuldyz Amankulova that it is also the matter of "responsibility and respect for their home country". I think we treat our Bolashaq graduates and scholars like kindergarten children, the famous quote of John Kennedy comes to my mind here. I know one brilliant kazakh scholar, PhD in nuclear medicine, who says that the problem of today's graduates of all sorts is that they want everything right away, they want high salaries, perfect working conditions, status without proving they deserve it, not even making a slight contribution to the country. I believe that smart people can realize themselves in any environment, if there are no sufficient conditions they create them by themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of brain-drain faced by not only Kazakhstan and but other countries too. The possible answer, the solution can be taken from the policies of other countries applicable to Kazakhstani context, policy borrowing. For instance, Singapore trained a lot fo specialists in engineering, biomedical sciences and did not provide with places to work. In a result, the talented students left the country. Now, the Singapore government is in the process of establishing educational hub for the specialists of engineering, biomedical sciences.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing useful information for students. If you want to join professional degree courses, join kazakh russian medical university.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing useful information for students. If you want to join professional degree courses, join kazakh medicaluniversity.
ReplyDelete