Bangladesh is currently facing a significant challenge of brain drain. The future of a country depends on the proper nursing of the young generation. The number of talented people leaving the country is increasing day by day. Students with high academic achievements leave the country and never return in most cases. As a result, our country's brain gets transferred to another country.

No nation has been able to move forward by denying merit. A large part of the talented young generation of our country migrated to developed countries mainly due to the country's socio-economic situation, and insecurity in jobs and careers. This way, the country loses its most talented, knowledgeable, skilled, and deserving citizens. Thus the country faces obstacles in its development and progress. According to the UNESCO data, a total of 52,799 Bangladeshi students went abroad for study in 2023 against 49,151 in 2022 and 44,338 in 2021.  

We need to address the reasons behind this brain drain. It’s affecting all sectors and making it harder for us to achieve our vision of a Smart Bangladesh. If we recognise the seriousness of the situation and take action, we can still keep and support our skilled individuals. The country’s current youth population is 45.9 million.

These young individuals can quickly learn new things, undertake new tasks, and work more to impact the economy while improving their own lives. A large portion of the young population is vital for creating business, generating jobs, and ultimately accumulating wealth for the nation. But it will only pay off if we invest heavily in education, healthcare and skills development.

Urgent Need to Tackle Brain DrainStarting from one of the most compelling factors leading to the exodus is the severe crisis of seats in universities. Each year, 10-20 lakh students attend the HSC examination.  Harrowingly, there is no proper accommodation, even for minimum number of students in our universities.

So, many of them opt to go abroad. Nowadays, students are going abroad using their merit, easy admission procedure, financial support, and credit transfer. The shortcomings of both public and private Bangladeshi universities, the difficult job market and the lure of better prospects abroad also lead students to settle in their host countries. This leads us to the issue of unemployment due to the lack of necessary skill sets and competence.

More than 200,000 new job seekers remain jobless every year. This forces us to face another social burden, the Bangladesh Civil Services (BCS) race. Government jobs are nowadays very lucrative, so many students long after the BCS from their very early stage of education. To cope with the  BCS preparation, students do not gather the academic or technical skills or basic expertise required in other job fields. So, a huge number of our youth remain unskilled. The meritorious students who do not want to incorporate themselves into this uncertain substandard rat race opt for better opportunities, like going abroad.

Our universities score poorly in global rankings. Universities in Bangladesh have also struggled with overcrowding and expert teacher shortages. Moreover, the lack of quality education at many public and private universities remains a big issue.

These institutions lack the atmosphere needed for higher education. Most of these do not have adequate research facilities and quality faculty to attract students.
Now, brain drain is a longstanding problem for Bangladesh as the country is deprived of service as the majority of these students do not return home after completing their studies. In this scientific era, when many countries of the world are working for the development of science and technology, ensuring the necessary facilities to increase the various incentives of scientists, our country cannot harness the opportunities. There is no significant allocation in the creative research sector, another reason for the brain drain. As a result, highly skilled graduates tend to leave the country.

Brain drain threatens our future. The more human capital goes abroad, the scarcer they becomes at home. Because of both globalisation and various forms of inequality and insecurity, brain drain out of Bangladesh is almost inevitable. Unfortunately, brain drain issues cannot be solved overnight or in the next 5-10 years. But if we look at how other developing nations fight brain drain in more practical ways, we can definitely learn a lot about what can be applied here as well.

Many more action plans can be taken, but focusing on the more ambitious ones is fruitless until we get some of the more fundamental elements executed right. But the clock is ticking, and the time to act was yesterday, so we are already running late. However, if we recognise the problem and take action, we can turn things around. By fostering a culture that values and rewards talent and with government initiatives to retain skilled resources, we can create an ecosystem where our skilled individuals can thrive and contribute to our country’s growth. Let’s work together to stop brain drain and build a better Bangladesh.
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The writer is a Deputy Director, Centre for Higher Studies & Research, Bangladesh University of Professionals.
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