Bid to stem the brain drain

NST: To keep the best brains from leaving Malaysia’s universities, the Higher Education Ministry may consider extending the retirement age of academics.
Saying that the brain drain was critical at institutes of higher learning, Minister Datuk Dr Shafie Salleh said local universities were no longer an attraction to the most talented of academics.
"We are worried about the situation and we must do something.
"The ministry will review the academic service scheme to find the best mechanism to keep the academic manpower in public universities," he had said at his first meeting with heads of local universities recently.
About 600 participants, including vice-chancellors, deputy vice-chancellors, deans and registrars, from 17 public universities were briefed on the ministry’s direction and goals for higher education.
Shafie said the move to address the brain drain issue would be done carefully to ensure that only those who were productive would reap the benefits.
The retirement age at universities is 55, which has been criticised as outdated as many feel that academics are at their prime at that age, with the best yet to come.
Shafie also said the ministry was trying to find ways to increase the number of lecturers who have doctorates to 75 per cent in public universities, so that these institutes would stay as respected centres of knowledge.
He also spoke on the challenges of the democratisation of education, a knowledge economy, competition among universities and globalisation.
Universities like Harvard and Cambridge had begun operating in the "global labour market" with a diverse faculty staff and student population, he said.
"The London School of Economics has 44 per cent of its lecturers from overseas, while 64 per cent of its students are from all over the world."
He also felt universities should be more autonomous and vibrant, not rigid and bureaucratic.
Shafie, who will be holding a Hari Raya open house at his official residence in Kuala Langat tomorrow, also said graduates needed to understand global issues and be open to outside cultures but still remain patriotic.