A WORLD HANDBOOKOF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT STATISTICS
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now being prepared by Education and World Affairs, which will be the first world survey of this kind, would provide material for this part of the handbook. The handbook might also include a bibliography of the literature on the economics, politics, sociology, etc., of research in science and technology. It is of course, a far cry from all of the statistical data which a handbook could contain to a rational science policy and it is not yet entirely clear how the two are to be connected. But it is clear that rational decisions cannot be made in ignorance. Even if a richer body of statistical knowledge of the state of scientific activity in the world does not provide a direct path to a rational science policy, it will help to create the enlightened state of mind necessary for such an improved policy. It will make decision-makers more serf-aware, it will make them more cautious about using factually spurious arguments in justifying their arguments for certain patterns of expenditure. This would be a great deal. Yours faithfully, STEVAN D E D I J E R Research Policy Program, University of Lurid.
UNIVERSITIES IN TURKEY 3 August, 1968 Sir,--Professor Okyar's coverage of university problems in Turkey 1 might be supplemented by a few observations on certain aspects of the student situation. Professor Okyar has touched on the quantitative problem, but he does not underline one question which has acquired great importance in the eyes of the students. I refer to the difference in the quality of high school teaching in the various provinces of Turkey, As one moves from west to east, from developed to underdeveloped regions, there is a constant decline in the quality of instruction. Lyc~es in underdeveloped regions o f Turkey do not offer the same level of teaching as lycdes in the western coastal regions. A consequence of this is that students who have had to attend schools in underdeveloped regions are in fact at a relative disadvantage in taking university entrance examinations compared to lycde graduates of developed regions. This discrepancy has created considerable concern among students and educational authorities alike. The present policy, which is to relax the entrance standards so as not to cause disadvantage to lycde graduates from less developed regions, is only a palliative which shifts the burden on to the shoulders of professors teaching freshman courses. Classes of over 500 first-year students in the political science faculty of Ankara University, for example; have created extremely difficult problems for this institution. Students placed in this situation feel alienated from their faculties and their expectations of university life are far from being met. 10kyar, Osman, "Universities in Turkey ", Minerva, VI, 2 (Winter, 1968), pp. 213-243.
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Related to this problem is that of the establishment of universities in less developed regions of Turkey. Local interests are enthusiastic about such plans and ready to support the universities financially. But with an already small university teaching corps it is difficult to see how these new universities can be staffed. If plans for provincial universities do materialise, the mediocrity of university teaching superimposed on inadequate secondary schooling is bound to create new problems. As in other countries, students have also begun to criticise the substance of instruction in universities. Until 1960 the system described by Professor Okyar of learning a set of notes by rote ran into little opposition among them; neither was the substance of their teaching eriticised. Lately, however, students have begun to take a much more critical view of the content of university lectures and textbooks. A number of student groups have singled out two main failings of university teaching: the lack of contact between their courses of instruction and daily realities and the evasive approach of professors to the analysis of contemporary developments which fall outside the western pattern. More specifically, a small but active and intellectually well-equipped minority has asked for explanations for the systematic avoidance of Marxist themes and views. This criticism is pertinent in the case of most university social science teaching. The recent extra-curricular activities of the students have well made up for this neglect, but some students would like to see more courses describing the socialist practice and world view included in their programme. A growing number of students have begun to detect chinks in the armour of a generation of complacent teachers. But it must also be said that the more responsible teachers have been stimulated by this criticism to think afresh about the obligations of the academic profession. Yours faithfully, SERIF MARDIN Turkish Social Science Association, Ankara.
THE REDUCTION OF THE BRAIN DRAIN: P R O B L E M S A N D POLIC3ES 14 October, 1968 Sir,--Professor Grubel, in his article, "The Reduction of the Brain Drain: Problems and Policies ",* has performed a valuable service in indicating the difficulties which will have to be surmounted if the dimensions of this problem are to be properly quantified. Those who are engaged in the task of statistical I Grubel, Herbert G., Minerva, VI, 4 (Summer, 1968), pp. 541-560.
