Guyana’s brain drain is crippling the economy

Jan 15, 2019 Editorial

Guyana’s brain drain is a harsh, well-known phenomenon with a multi-decade lifespan that manifests no signs of tapering off. It has been weakening to the point of national devastation. And yet, this country, though lamenting the continuing haemorrhage, has either not fully discerned or fully appreciated the far-ranging consequences of this massive exodus.
A while back, the authoritative World Bank reported that some 86% of Guyanese who finish at the tertiary education level are gone; have left; migrated. Goodbye. It has been heard, read, absorbed, shrugged at and last shrugged off. My turn coming is all that matters.
That was the extent of passing individual and cumulative reactions. Now it is time to take a deep dive behind that stark, not contested, number of 86% of graduates off and out; and ascertain what it signifies at some rudimentary level.
This means that a mere 14% of graduates remain. It could be that, in time, a part of that remnant also departs depending on marital and family sponsorship down the road, making matters even worse. Still holding to that 14% residue, and giving due cognizance to Guyanese political and racial realities, as well as the associated hard divisions, this means that approximately seven per cent are entrusted, saddled with, and responsible for managing a whole country.
It is a country with myriad issues and challenges, and areas that too many times embody the insurmountable. Proceeding a bit deeper, and being generous, Reasonably and realistically speaking, in that seven per cent, there is bound to be incompetents, the unindustrious, the corrupt, and the generally underperforming.
In view of the runaway corruption levels prevalent in this society that practically ousts a considerable fraction of the seven per cent utilized by one political group or another for managing, strategizing, leading, and delivering for the benefit of this nation.
At the risk of undercounting, it is put forward that the corrupt could be at a minimum, 50% of that now shrinking seven per cent. That, if accepted for purposes of this position translates to about three per cent of the supposedly educated, trained, exposed populace doing the heavy lifting, thinking, and fulfilling the needs and requirements of this beleaguered, struggling nation.
It is not doable; it does not bode well for progress. Hence, it is irrefutable evidence of where Guyana is and why it has been stuck there. Almost forever. Where else can a young, poor, ruptured society find itself (or go) with three per cent of the learners at the helm and piloting the craft? As an aside, but in proximity to the primary thrust of this writing, several months ago there was the thought that this is a one per cent nation in many of the most crucial areas. The thinking today is that one per cent of contributors and performers is closer to the real Guyana.
This is driven home powerfully, when one considers the separate (still sometimes concentric) concentrations of pundits, politicians, and professionals available and involved to carry the torch. The concentration of the commercial could be numerically higher, but only slightly; while that of the genuinely principled way less than one per cent.
No nation can stand on its feet, and carry its own weight under such an enormous human capital deficit. The fact that Guyana has managed to muddle along does says something, not much, but a paltry something.
The first recommendation is: fix the politics. The second is: address the race cancer. The last word is this: is anyone out there listening? Does anyone care enough to want to figure out and force a different mentality, a new spirit, and a more embracing motherland?

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