[afro-nets] Plain grain or brain drain? (6)

[Niagia Santuah <nsantuah@pcaccra.org>]

Plain grain or brain drain? (6)
-------------------------------
Food for countless thoughts

Teaching children to count but not what counts is the greatest
tragedy of our times!

Dear colleagues:

There are just too many sides to the issue of brain drain or as
someone succinctly put, brain looting. Brain drain is but one of
the many ills that afflict Africa. To me it is not even among
the major challenges facing us now. If eradicable diseases such
as Polio persist in Africa, it is not because the health systems
are not working - it is a failure of the education system. What
are children taught in school?

Why is it easier for Cuban doctors to serve in Navrongo in
northern Ghana but it is difficult to get a Ghanaian doctor in
Navrongo to work at the Sandema hospital which is only about 20
km away?

A medical doctor once 'proudly' told his own story on TV to sup-
port the need for a change of heart. He was posted to serve in
Nalerigu in northern Ghana, about 750 km from the capital Accra.
This happened about 50 years ago.

Youngman: "Sir, the place is too far!"

Supervisor: "Far from where? There's an Australian medical doc-
tor in Nalerigu!"

I don't know how long it takes to fly from Australia to Ghana
which could be about the same time it will take to travel by
road from Accra to Nalerigu in those days, 14 hours or more. But
the point had been well made and the young doctor had no excuse.

So we come back to education. When we teach our children to
count do we also teach them what counts?

--
Santuah Niagia
Communication Specialist
Population Council
Sub-Saharan Africa Office
Accra, Ghana
mailto:nsantuah@pcaccra.org