Higher education, brain drain and overseas employment in the Philippines: towards a differentiated set of solutions
✍ Scribed by Andrew Gonzalez
- Publisher
- Springer
- Year
- 1992
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 766 KB
- Volume
- 23
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0018-1560
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
This paper describes the interlocking conflicts and resulting problems of higher education in the Philippines. The educational system produces first degree graduates for certain professions and fields of specialization while failing to produce enough graduates in 'unpopular' fields of pure science, middle-level technician specializations, and graduate training for research and higher education. The few scientists and graduate degree holders trained abroad migrate to other countries, making the shortage even more acute. For oversubscribed professions, graduates seek overseas employment. In the meantime, the mismatch continues.
The author proposes different solutions for each problem; no uniform solution is possible as the nature of the problem is different for each area. For oversubscribed professions, the writer accepts overseas employment as a viable option; it is a source of foreign exchange and a natural way of population control. For undersubscribed professions he proposes a system of incentives tied to a period of mandatory service, after which the beneficiary may exercise his/her options.
The writer concludes with some general insights about allowing the 'invisible hand' to regulate the process of manpower demand and supply but supports limited and specific government interventions at the right moment.