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Pinoy Abroad

'Bitter truth' about migration of Pinoy science professionals


The continuous deployment of Filipino science professionals overseas is a “bittersweet” reality that affects the development of research in the country, a study of the Philippine government’s Science Education Institute (SEI) said.   Titled International Migration of Science and Technology Manpower-OFW, the research conducted by the SEI was “an accounting of the temporary Filipino overseas contract workers” under the science and technology category, using data from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).   The study accounted the number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the following occupations:

  • physicists, chemists, and related professionals;
  • computing professionals;
  • life science professionals;
  • nursing and midwifery professionals;
  • mathematician, statisticians, and related professionals;
  • engineers and related professionals; and
  • health professionals (except nursing).
  It noted that most of the host countries are developed ones, while the sources of workers are the less developed countries.   The salaries of most of the science professionals there are “relatively higher compared to that earned locally by a person with the same profession,” it added.   Most Filipino science professionals, the study found, are deployed in Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where most overseas Filipinos were deployed according to the POEA statistics in 2010.   Three other countries in the same region—Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain—are included in the top ten destinations.   On average during the period of 1998 to 2009, some 9,066 Filipinos working in science and technology are employed in Saudi Arabia, with 65 percent working in nursing and midwifery. Meanwhile, 1,030 Filipinos are in UAE, most of them engineers (45 percent) and nurses (42).   The other countries in the top ten, together with the average number of Filipino science professionals there, are as follows:
  • United Kingdom (2,165);
  • Qatar (836);
  • United States (581);
  • Singapore (521);
  • Ireland (521);
  • Kuwait (356);
  • Libya (282); and
  • Bahrain (190).
  ‘Bittersweet truth’   SEI director Filma Brawner said the numbers presented in the study “contain a bittersweet truth about the S&T (science and technology) OFW landscape.”   “Our science professionals are highly marketable and are sought after by developed countries,” she said. “However, we cannot give them enough reason to stay in the country and help us shore up the research and development agenda of the Philippines.”   In its recommendations, the SEI noted that the “mobility” of science and technology workers “is inevitable,” especially since it “would mean economic returns for the country” and the “advancement” of their skills.   However, the institute said that the “big challenge” is for the government to provide “proper ecology and environment” for Filipino science professionals, including improved research and development infrastructures.   “The benchmark number of researchers, scientists, and engineers needed for a country to be industrialized is increasing and we may never catch up if we do not put proper measures in place,” it said.   The SEI also addressed the issue of “mismatch between education and manpower requirements,” saying the government must “review the current curriculum of S&T courses as [their] graduates may not meet the requirements of hiring firms.”   “Tie-up with the industry could be considered by academic institutions to ensure immediate employment of graduates,” it said.   It added that improvements must be done in the educational system “to ensure high quality and more globally competitive graduates.” - VVP, GMA News
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