A news report in a leading Urdu daily newspaper states that 53 faculty members of 11 government universities of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, who had completed PhD study programme, have refused to come back and resume their duties. These scholars had been sent under the Higher Education Commission (HEC) scholarship scheme to the reputed universities of the United States, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, other countries of Western Europe, Japan and South Korea. The unemployed M Phil scholars who avail the HEC scholarship for pursuing PhD studies in foreign countries marry the nationals of these countries to get immigration and avoid return to the motherland because of gross merit violations while seeking appointment, enduring miseries of unemployment, and wastage of precious knowledge and research skills.
The young PhD scholars who do take the risk of return to Pakistan under the spirit of serving their own country get nothing except frustration in the shape of unemployment. One such Ph. D scholar completed his doctoral studies in Biochemistry from a university in South Korea with a number of research publication in the world’s number one top notch Research Journal “Nature”. The South Korean university offered him faculty position at salary package of Rs. 400000 plus frees housing, medical and transport facilities. Imbibed with the spirit of patriotism, he came back served in the Islamia College University in the Chemistry Department for two years as Assistant Professor under the HEC funded contract employment scheme of Interim Period for Fresh PhDs at a salary package Rs. 95000. After the expiry of interim period his contract employment was not extended and then he ran from pillar to post for getting employment in government universities including Islamia College University, Hazara University and Kohat University. The rate of unemployment of PhD scholars has gone up to the alarming level and decision of young PhDs of not coming back is justified. The government is solely responsible for this brain drain in addition to the Syndicates of public sector universities who grossly violate merit.
