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DESPITE
the steady exodus of Filipino graduates in science and
technology, the Philippines still maintains a critical
mass of science-and-technology human resource, below the
critical level of brain drain, according to the
soon-to-be-published “Emigration of Science and
Technology Educated Filipinos (1998-2006).”
The
report was done by the Department of Science and
Technology-Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) in
cooperation with the Commission on Filipinos Overseas
(CFO). It said that despite a “considerable permanent
loss” of manpower in science and technology, the stock
of professionals in this field has not reached critical
level.
Of the
107,548 registered science and technology professionals
in the country, only 24,871 science and technology
graduates left the country, or a mere 23.13 percent of
the total science and technology pool.
Nurses
getting out of the country account for the largest
number of science and technology emigrants at 13,973, or
34.83 percent of the 40,138 registered nursing
professionals.
This is
followed by civil engineers (2,575), teachers (2,271),
mechanical engineers (2,031), electrical engineers
(1,683), medical technologists (1,570) and pharmacists
(768).
Most
favored country of destination by emigrants is the
United States of America with 17,465 science and
technology professionals settling there.
This is
followed by
Canada
(4,947) and Australia (972) while the rest are to other
countries (1,307).
The
study said the rise of nursing graduates going to
developed countries like the US is a natural consequence
of the preference of their locals pursuing business and
careers in information technology (IT).
“On the
demand side, many developed countries have experienced
major skilled-labor shortages because of numerous
factors like high demand in certain sectors and lack of
adequate training facilities,” the study said.
The
study noted that migration of engineering graduates
could be due to “general trends of using technology for
increased global competitiveness and productivity by
many foreign multinational corporations, more business
ventures into knowledge-intensive industries, expansion
of service sectors which increase demand for S&T
personnel, and skills shortages making salary higher in
IT and computer-related employment services”
Dr.
Ester B. Ogena, director of the DOST-SEI, said the
government is trying its best to keep the science and
technology human resource of the country and one move is
to offer them scholarships.
Ogena
said the government’s Accelerated Science and Technology
Human Resource Development Program and Engineering
Research and Development Technology Program are meant to
entice graduates to pursue post-baccalaureate studies.
“We
believe that developing the human resources of science
and technology in the country would provide the second
wind to sustain the economic growth of the country.
Creating a larger pool of researchers and engineers
would provide newer products and processes that would
take our industries to a higher level of development,”
she said.
The
graduate scholarships are also in line with the
implementation of the research agenda outlined in the
National Science and Technology Plan (NSTP) and the
Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP). |
