Environment Must Be Created to Retain Scientists – Minister

Jamaica must create an environment to retain its scientists, says Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Science, Technology and Special Projects, Dr. the Hon. Andrew Wheatley.

Speaking recently during a tour of the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) in Portland, Dr. Wheatley said that an ecosystem must be created that will allow and encourage the country’s scientists that it has “spent so much money to train at CASE and other tertiary institutions” to remain home.

“We have not invested any significant amount of money as a country in R&D (research and development) and we complain that we are losing our students or our scientists that we are training. Why? Because they do not see the opportunities here,” Dr. Wheatley said.

The Minister outlined that a lack of lucrative opportunities is driving away some of the country’s best talent in the field of Science.

“Having gotten a master’s degree, first degree, or even a PhD, what are the options here in Jamaica apart from teaching in an institution? We do not have the necessary facilities to keep or retain our scientists. And having invested so much in developing these scientists, they are taken away from us because of lucrative opportunities,” Dr. Wheatley argued.

He continued that some research professionals leave Jamaica for a need to do “active and quality research work”.

“Some of us don’t necessarily want the money. We want to contribute and do research. We have this investigative capacity that we want to just do quality research work. And at the end of the day, it is the result of hard work that we really appreciate. And of course, we want some money to survive and support our family,” the Minister reasoned.

Addressing an audience of senior leaders at CASE during his visit, Dr. Wheatley said that the institution has a role to play in making this a reality.

“We are going to do our best to see how we can partner with CASE and other tertiary institutions,” the Minister said.

He further pointed out that CASE will have to play an integral role in the House of Innovation – an initiative through which research institutions, tertiary institutions and government and non-governmental entities collaborate by sharing experiences and equipment and undertaking research geared towards national and sustainable development.

“Especially in terms of your lab that you want to build out, rest assured that you do not have to build a lab out to an extent where you have to get all the equipment and house them here. Because the House of Innovation seeks to link all the research institutions within Jamaica with specialised equipment and ensure that we all have access to these equipment, so that research is not limited because of a lack of equipment that is critical for us to achieve a particular result,” he told the leaders at CASE.