According to the IOM report for 2020, the Republic of Macedonia is in the top 20 countries in the world with the largest emigration abroad, while according to the estimates of the World Bank, almost 40% of the higher education staff has already left the country, and according to the Brain Drain Index of Global Esopotu, RM is in the high fifth place (out of 41 European countries), which clearly shows that the country is facing a great loss of talent.
The State Audit Office, in accordance with the Annual Work Program for 2023, conducted a performance audit on the topic "Effectiveness of measures to prevent the outflow of highly educated and professional personnel".
The purpose of the audit was to answer the question "Has the Government of the Republic of Macedonia planned, implemented and monitored the measures and activities from the National Strategy for Networking and Cooperation with Highly Educated and Professional Personnel 2013-2020, in a way that could contribute to prevent the outflow of highly educated personnel?"
The audit activities conducted and the audit evidence provided allowed us to gain reasonable assurance that the actions of the Government as the holder of migration management policies are not effective enough to reduce the outflow of higher education staff from the state.
In the last few decades, worldwide migrations have seen a continuous increase, and today their volume is greater than ever. The tendency towards an increase in the emigration of highly skilled personnel, as well as young scientists from certain faculties, implies changes in the quality of the labor force and a decrease in the level of human capital, and thus negative effects in the field of economic development of the country and scientific research activity.
According to the data of the State Statistics Office, the number of Macedonian citizens who went abroad in the period 2013-2022 is 7.861 people.
The data on the educational structure of the people who left the country show that in the period 2015-2022, a total of 719 highly educated people emigrated from the country.
According to the data received from international organizations and host countries, the number of Macedonian citizens residing abroad is increasing at a remarkable rate. This tendency presents serious challenges for the state, including the outflow of higher education personnel and the potential effects on the economy and society as a whole.
According to the IOM report for 2020, the Republic of Macedonia is in the elite group of the top twenty countries in the world with the largest emigration abroad, while according to the estimates of the World Bank, almost 40% of the higher education staff from the Republic of Macedonia have left the country, and the Index of brain drain by Global Esopotu, shows that the Republic of Macedonia is in the high fifth place (out of 41 European countries), which clearly shows that the country is facing a great loss of talent.
However, in the context of these challenges, the lack of an active strategy for managing higher education personnel in the country increases the concern even more. After the expiration of the period of validity of the National Strategy for networking and cooperation with highly educated and professional personnel from 2013 to 2020, the state does not have a strategic document to combat the outflow of qualified personnel.
The Government has adopted a Resolution on migration policy, with a special strategic goal aimed at reducing the intensity of permanent emigration abroad of persons with a high level of education, but monitoring of the implementation of the measures and activities has not been established for it, as well as the adoption of new strategic documents are carried out without prior assessment and evaluation of the results.
The State Audit Office, in accordance with the Annual Work Program for 2023, conducted a performance audit on the topic "Effectiveness of measures to prevent the outflow of highly educated and professional personnel".
The purpose of the audit was to answer the question "Has the Government of the Republic of Macedonia planned, implemented and monitored the measures and activities from the National Strategy for Networking and Cooperation with Highly Educated and Professional Personnel 2013-2020, in a way that could contribute to prevent the outflow of highly educated personnel?"
The audit activities conducted and the audit evidence provided allowed us to gain reasonable assurance that the actions of the Government as the holder of migration management policies are not effective enough to reduce the outflow of higher education staff from the state.
In the last few decades, worldwide migrations have seen a continuous increase, and today their volume is greater than ever. The tendency towards an increase in the emigration of highly skilled personnel, as well as young scientists from certain faculties, implies changes in the quality of the labor force and a decrease in the level of human capital, and thus negative effects in the field of economic development of the country and scientific research activity.
According to the data of the State Statistics Office, the number of Macedonian citizens who went abroad in the period 2013-2022 is 7.861 people.
The data on the educational structure of the people who left the country show that in the period 2015-2022, a total of 719 highly educated people emigrated from the country.
According to the data received from international organizations and host countries, the number of Macedonian citizens residing abroad is increasing at a remarkable rate. This tendency presents serious challenges for the state, including the outflow of higher education personnel and the potential effects on the economy and society as a whole.
According to the IOM report for 2020, the Republic of Macedonia is in the elite group of the top twenty countries in the world with the largest emigration abroad, while according to the estimates of the World Bank, almost 40% of the higher education staff from the Republic of Macedonia have left the country, and the Index of brain drain by Global Esopotu, shows that the Republic of Macedonia is in the high fifth place (out of 41 European countries), which clearly shows that the country is facing a great loss of talent.
However, in the context of these challenges, the lack of an active strategy for managing higher education personnel in the country increases the concern even more. After the expiration of the period of validity of the National Strategy for networking and cooperation with highly educated and professional personnel from 2013 to 2020, the state does not have a strategic document to combat the outflow of qualified personnel.
The Government has adopted a Resolution on migration policy, with a special strategic goal aimed at reducing the intensity of permanent emigration abroad of persons with a high level of education, but monitoring of the implementation of the measures and activities has not been established for it, as well as the adoption of new strategic documents are carried out without prior assessment and evaluation of the results.
