By Hassaan Ahmed
Statistical data from the Higher education commission of Pakistan and educational institution's graduate placement data suggests that a brain drain is currently happening in Pakistani professionals. In the recent decade, more and more Pakistani able students are bagging a lot of positions and scholarships for graduate studies in top institutions around the globe, The USEFP, and HEC, governing bodies for scholarships by the government and foundation, have recognized the issue. The students go abroad and gain a top-notch education from leading professionals and they never come back to their homeland. With an increasing number of skilled individuals leaving the country for better lives, Pakistan might be on the brink of losing its brain capital. According to a Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment report, more than ten million Pakistani citizens have bid-adieu to the country for better professional and financial opportunities.
With inflation rising and economic uncertainty gripping the country, more and more skilled professionals opt to leave Pakistan. Unemployment is another potent factor that forces professionals to exit the country. In the last two years alone, some 884,000 young Pakistani have left the country, according to the official registrations at the bureau of emigration. The record indicates more than 300,000 Pakistanis left the country in 2018. The figure soared to 500,000 this year. The data from the bureau shows a growing trend of what easily qualifies as the flight of human capital from the country. Most of these individuals are fresh graduates from local universities going for graduate education. Close examination of the figures provided by the Bureau reveals about 10,000 engineers, 3,500 doctors, and 9,500 accountants traveled abroad for jobs during the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government's tenure, which came into power with the promise of reducing unemployment in the country. This data highlights the politicalness of the conflict. Of course, the non-existent facilities and hopeless economic venture show a clear case for this flight of brain drain. Officially registered individuals end up sending foreign currency back to Pakistan which helps our economy but again is at the expense of national brain drain. What future holds for this conflict with an exponential curve? Only timely efforts will tell!