If about 114 million rupees are spent every year on laureates and only 18 % are returning, that would mean 94 million rupees are lost every year. A document published by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Corporation and Development) in 2005 estimated that between 50-53 % of our Highly Skilled Population live abroad1. Looking for greener pastures abroad has been a phenomenon inherent in Mauritian society. Often condemned by hard-line patriots, they tend to forget that most of our ancestors did this very thing by leaving the states of Bihar & Uttar Pradesh in India and the rural areas of China in their quest for a better living. However, it is a completely different issue when it comes to the migration of government-sponsored students who have signed a legal agreement which binds them to return to the island.

The purpose of a government-sponsored scholarship is not as a reward to those ?chosen ones? but an attempt to provide ?highly motivated individuals with big aspirations? (as rightly put forward by Vij Dhayan in his article published in lexpress dated 14th February) top notch education and most importantly, use these pricey skills to help the country move forward. Many laureates talk about the freedom of choice to come back (or not to in this case) but when 114 million rupees are taken from the 11000 Mauritian tax payers (which amounts to an average of 10,000 rupees per year per tax payer) to fund the laureates? tertiary education, for only 18% to return to the country, one has to question the reasoning behind such an equation tailor-made for failure with the country paying for its own brain drain as a result.

Moreover, it is quite paradoxical that individuals complaining of the nepotism, lack of meritocracy, fraud and corruption thriving in the island as reasons for not coming back, go on and sign a legal bond with the government and decide not to honour it and worse ? not to repay the bond. This, in my opinion, is at the very least, a breach of moral contract. But I wouldn?t put the biggest blame on the laureate for that breach. Not enough is being done to encourage our potential ?leaders of tomorrow? to fulfill their aspirations in the island.

So, what can be done to encourage our priciest human assets to return to the island? The bond between the government and the laureates should bear a higher legal value whereby if the laureate decides not to return, he has to repay the full amount spent by the government. However, it is a bit optimistic to expect a laureate to return to the island after an undergraduate degree only. Hence, I guess allowing him some years after his undergraduate study to acquire a Masters and perhaps even work to acquire overseas experience, might be a decent alternative. One of the reasons why laureates aren?t coming back is because with an undergraduate degree only, one can?t expect a very fulfilling job with a decent salary. Our country doesn?t need an influx of undergraduates - the local universities are providing more than enough of them.

In the recent budgets, the government talked about encouraging the setting up of private universities in Mauritius. If some prestigious foreign institutions could be lured to the island, the laureates would not have to leave the island for higher education. Scholarships from the government could cover the cost of studies at such institutions only. The need for external exposure could be met by arranging summer placements in industries of the institutions? countries of origin and postgraduate programmes abroad with a similar legal bond to return to the island. Such cross border higher education institutes would reduce the brain drain and increase the influx of foreign exchange and encourage research.

One more solution could be scholarships in areas beneficial to the country. I do not see the point of sponsoring someone to become a nuclear physicist when the country is starving for specialists in certain areas of medicine, IT, finance amongst others. Private companies could also sponsor some of the laureates and guarantee them a post upon returning to the island.

Finally, the depreciation of the rupee with respect to the pound and the dollar could very well be a blessing in disguise as some of the partial scholarship winners may choose to opt for some of the cheaper but high quality education options like South Africa and Singapore ? from where, at least they will have a higher chance of coming back to the island.

The call for patriotism is definitely not enough to ensure that most of our laureates come back and serve the country. A proper framework to encourage them to return is what we need.

References:

1. Dumont JC, Lemaitre G. Counting immigrants and expatriates in OECD countries: A new perspective. OECD Social, Employment and Migration working papers No. 25 2005; 24.

Farhad Peerally University of Sheffield, UK`