Dear Editor,
Is there still hope for Guyana in reversing the brain drain? As some Guyanese continue to seek greener pastures abroad, it seems the decades-long brain drain shows no signs of stopping.
The brain drain continues in Guyana despite the new oil and gas industry and a new government. Every day, countless well-qualified and talented Guyanese continue to go abroad for higher studies or to seek better living standards. Many are driven away by the high unemployment and crime rate in the country, but issues like social and economic pressures that come up as a consequence of not being able to earn a fair and reasonable wage, also play a significant role in exacerbating the brain drain.
According to the Guyana Chronicle newspaper a few years ago, “The news that 93% of persons migrating from Guyana have a tertiary education cannot be comforting. As (former) Education Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine opined, it is a national tragedy.”
Editor, all the developed world’s efforts to increase aid to the country and the oil wealth may not matter if the local personnel required to implement development programmes are absent. Every year, there are fewer people in Guyana to deliver key public services, drive economic growth, and articulate calls for greater democracy and development.
Let me share with you the story of one young woman who left Guyana. Priya, (not her real name), is a graduate of Queen’s College, the University of Guyana, and in her early thirties. Although she had several jobs in Guyana, she didn’t have a good job. Less than a year ago, she moved to a rural area in America.
Four days after arriving in the country, I met her and began mentoring her. I explained to her what it will take to be successful in America. I encouraged her to join the military immediately, and she agreed.
She is academically gifted and intelligent. She took the military entrance exam and obtained a perfect score, which enabled her to choose any career in the military. The military also accepted her bachelor’s degree from the University of Guyana.
However, she ran into a few setbacks. She was rejected by the Army and Air Force respectively for being overweight and not being an American’s citizen. However, the Navy immediately accepted her and offered her a huge signing bonus.
Even though she is academically qualified for any career field in the Navy, she had to settle for a job that is below her academic qualifications because she is not a citizen. All the best jobs in the Navy require American citizenship. Even though she is not a citizen, she’ll become one soon because she is in the military.
Today, she is on her way to finding the “good life” not in Guyana but in America. Soon she’ll be catapulted from a dead-end job in Guyana, to a great career in the military in less than a year. No wonder people are going to America and other countries. I would argue that if the U.S. Embassy in Guyana offers every Guyanese permanent residency in the USA, about 80-90 percent of the people will accept it.
Editor, is there still hope for Guyana in reversing the brain drain? I am an optimist, and I believe that there is still hope.
To reverse the brain drain, the government has to stop treating the citizenry like a stepchild. The government must put the people first. I believe that the number one reason why people are leaving the country is because they are being treated like second class citizens. No one can be loyal to a country or government who treats them like they are inferior. Until the government works to help the people by putting them first, the brain drain will never stop.
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Pantlitz
