VUMBA More than 70 per cent of skilled professionals are likely to leave the country, the Deputy Prime Minister, Thokozani Khupe (Pictured), has said.Speaking as the Guest of Honour and officially opening a two-day Symposium on From Brain Drain to Brain Gain organised by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education last week, Khupe said: If a robust strategy is not put in place at the present time the country will lose a lot in the process. I want to urge all the stakeholders and the government to address head on the causes diagnosed after going through the signs and symptoms of past endeavours.
She added that the loss of trained and experienced professionals was a growing concern that had negatively impacted on socio-economic service delivery.
Khupe attributed the exodus to a number of things:
The economic meltdown characterised by abnormally poor performance in the agriculture, tourism, mining and manufacturing industries has led to the skilled labour skipping our country in search of better rewards. Poor living conditions coupled by very poor health delivery system and lack of advancement opportunities for the professionals and their families has exacerbated the mass exodus of Zimbabwes very skilled manpower, said Khupe.
Khupe said the government and its various stakeholders should now map the best ways to turn the push factors into opportunities for pull factors.
The onus is on us all to work out how best we can solve this problem. We cannot afford the luxury of blame game or watch idly at this menacing phenomenon. The time to come up with the solutions is now, she said.
Post published in: News