| Username |
Post |
| BP |
Posted
on 07-Nov-01 03:03 AM
I would like to start a topic on the "Brain Drain" of Nepal. I think it would be very interesting, and maybe even heartening for someone like myself. I would like to see how many of us have been educated outside Nepal and then have gone on to work in foreign countries. Maybe you can describe what you do. The second part to the topic is how you think you can give back to Nepal, in any way. What do you guys think? ...Well, maybe this won't work because it is asking for too much information. Heck, I don't know if even I want to give out this info unless some other people do first.
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| arnico |
Posted
on 07-Nov-01 06:10 AM
A great topic!
Let me throw in a couple of subtopics for discussion:
1) When is working overseas a brain drain? What if someone studies abroad, then works abroad for 4-5 years, acquiring experience and some savings, and then returns to Nepal? Were those 4-5 years a brain drain?
How about if the person spends 20 years abroad first? ... that is what the doctor did who almost singlehandedly arranged for the construction of a top-quality hospital in Dhulikhel a few years ago.
[if any one has time: I encourage reading up on the history of Taiwan's development: one of the factors that caused a rapid growth in its GDP was the return, in the 1970s, of the first wave of Taiwanese who had gone to study in the US... who had stayed on working in the US for a decade (loud cries of brain drain in the 60s)... but who, after working their way up to top management positions, decided to return home to invest in and run industries in Taiwan]
2) How about if someone returns to Nepal, but spends all his/her time telecommuting for a US based IT job... is that a brain drain? By the standards of many of us it sure would be an enviable job to have: celebrate Dassain and Tihar at home, take advantage of the social networks and cheap domestic help in Nepal, while earning hard currency.... but what does Nepal gain if the person does not at least spend free-time doing things for Nepal?
3) Perhaps we should consider debating: WHAT IS THE OPTIMAL TIME to return to Nepal? This will of course vary from person to person, for various personal, financial, academic, and career reasons... but perhaps it is worth discussing what factors influence such a decision.
4) Or... with today's (relatively cheap) travel and extensive internet based communication facilitilities, is the old notion of "go abroad, study, then return to Nepal to work on national development" outdated? What are the options today for going back and forth, contributing from abroad as well?
5) Should we look at whether a person is working in Nepal or abroad, or should we look at whether the person is doing the maximum in their capacity to contribute to Nepal? What should a world-class Nepali particle physicist do? Return to Nepal and teach intro physics at TU? Or should she stay in the US and work at a top university (something we don't have yet in Nepal... but hey, who knows in twenty years?)... and perhaps win a Nobel Prize in Physics and inspire a general of Nepali girls (and boys)?
[yes... but how many people win a Nobel prize? and what happens to those who spend a lifetime trying and don't get it and don't do anything for Nepal either?]
To reply directly to BP's questions: I am a graduate student still... in atmospheric chemistry (studying pollution and climate), but with a strong interdisciplinary interest in sustainable development. Planning to help improve higher education in Nepal in the long run...
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 07-Nov-01 12:25 PM
BPji:
Thanks for the interesting topic.
I was schooled in Tandi, Chitwan, and Ascol. What saddens me is everytime I go
back, Ascol is going down,down and down.
Frankly, I never felt indebted to Ascol. When I was in Ascol, I didn't get chance
to attend the classes at all, because of political scenario.
However, I have a lot of hope for the development of Chitwan. I am a grad
student here, but my ultimate hope is to have one world-class engineering or
basic sciences school in Chitwan(of course, for Nepal).It saddens me a lot when I
see no article in IEEE or any other acclaimed research magazines from Nepali
research institution.
I know there is a limitation of how much we can do. Being (we will be)the first
generation to do anything about such schools, all we can do is to inculcate in the
mind of youngsters that in study lies their and the nation's golden future.I want
to wean them away from politics.I remember reading about James Joyce, and
in one point he defines pornography as "some(bad)thing that elicit desire to own them",and our politics/political position has worked as pornography to our
children's mind.
If after 50 or 60 years, we can make our own Nokia, it will be so great. I have
heard Nokia is the company that singlehandedly changed the fate of Finland. It
generates hundreds of thousands of jobs for the tiny nation and its stock price
so much defines the economic health of that tiny nation.I don't think that just
by making cheap software, we can elevate our condition any remarkably.
We don't have to feel bad about working abroad. This is a process in a
cosmopolitan life.The bottomline is how much we can contribute to the poor society
from where we came from.Also, one single person is nothing. We need team
effort.
Nepali Research: Technology for future!
[Sorry to stray away from original brain-drain.]
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| Siwalik |
Posted
on 07-Nov-01 01:33 PM
Brain drain? It is a natural phenomenon. Like the water that runs downhill, talent and finds the best atmosphere for advancement. Some find it abroad, some at home. But even those who are abroad can ultimately help build a better homeland, specially in this day and age. Staying in one's country is not a good measure of patriotism or service to the country. It is how one uses the knowledge and aspires to make a difference back home, even when living abroad.
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| Gandhi |
Posted
on 07-Nov-01 02:37 PM
Arnico's view and Taiwanese example reminds me of the Dibya Upadesh by Prithwi Narayan Sah. "Go to Kashi and other places, live there, learn skills to weaving or making weapons and come back". How farsighted is the idea for the development of a country.
The present world is just a few second away from anywhere. To be physically present in the country without doing any good is never a patriotism. If one thinks and does a smallest effort to fight for the challenges of own country, from wherever one is, that is always good for its people.
Each country invests a huge amount in the raising and education of its people (from free shots for the child and school/college education for youth to the senior citizen benefits for an elderly). For a simple example, it cost me Rs. 20,000 per year to finish my five year undergraduate program. On the other hand, our government (TU) indirectly paid another Rs. 75,000 per year for my education (I am giving real approximate figure for technical institutes under TU in early nintees). Thus for any one like me, having an opportunity to do a graduate study and been able to earn in dollars for few years will never be a justification to say "what the country has given me?" Perphaps we are never able to return the investment.
Any efforts for evelopment of a country requires resources- whether it is education, capital, natural resources or a management skill. Working and networking with people in a different country to achieve these won't be a brain drain. That's the collaboration for the development of a country. However, if we stay in that country for ever, it is not going to help our own country and it is certainly a "brain drain". In that case, country's investment will be a sunk cost, making other fellow citizens pay for it.
We have to think for the ways we can live being a responsible citizen by offering, directly or indirectly, our best service to our own country. Knowledge and skills are admired everywhere and there are enormous opportunities for capable ones. However, our aim should be to make the faces happy in our own villages where we were born. Each one of us could try to establish a hospital or a school or a training centre, or an observatory, or develop a theory of poverty and growth etc. If we have such targets in our mind, I don't consider being out of the country for 10 or 20 years is not a brain drain.
Gandhi
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