Corruption in the education sector
Common forms of corruption
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The manifestations of corrupt practices repeat themselves across countries and regions. Lists of possible forms can help detect anomalies and to carry out in-depth analysis by using tracking surveys, audits, etc.
Planning and school management
Funding decisions
Decisions on government funding for new and existing schools are often taken outside the appropriate organs. Outcomes include unnecessary building of schools as projects are selected for purely personal and political reasons, disregarding real needs.
Procurement
Corruption in procurement affects the acquisition of educational material (curriculum development, textbooks, library stock, uniforms, etc), meals, buildings, and equipment. As sales levels are guaranteed in such acquisitions, bidders eagerly pay bribes to secure the infallibly high profits.
Where textbooks and supplies are monopolised by the state and bidding procedures are irregular, poor quality products become the norm and contracts are frequently secured by unprofessional agents.
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In 2001, 25 million secondary level schoolchildren in Bangladesh started the school year without textbooks. When the textbooks were finally delivered, they were full of errors, yet they had to be purchased by pupils at a higher price than previously announced. A report card survey carried out by Transparency International Bangladesh revealed that students had to pay an additional Tk 670 million (approximately US$ 12 million) due to the textbook crisis. TI Bangladesh |
School accreditation
The post-cold war period has seen private teaching institutions and degree programmes mushroom. New institutions and degrees must be recognised through a system of accreditation traditionally managed by the relevant ministry. Private and public schools and institutes may bribe their way into getting these necessary authorisations, and corruption in accreditation is widespread. The results are potentially devastating as graduates with poor professional qualifications enter the labour market.
Student admissions and examinations
Admission
Entrance exam papers can be sold in advance to high-paying candidates.
Oral examinations are even more open to corruption as evaluations are
subjective and difficult to monitor. Corrupt practices often become the
routine as candidates even know how much a "pass" costs, and
are expected pay cash upfront. Favouritism and nepotism is also common.
Private tutoring
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Low quality schools turn out students who are badly prepared for college, thus forcing parents to hire private tutors to ensure that their children pass the entrance exams. Often the most popular tutors are the same professors who sit on admissions committees of higher education institutions. As the examinations are oral the grading criteria are subjective, and "tutoring fees" therefore become de facto bribes. Chronicle of Higher Education, 2002 |
Supposedly free primary education becomes prohibitively expensive for
poor families when the reality requires paying for private tutors in order
to pass. Thus, private tutoring can exacerbate social inequalities, particularly
when ordinary teachers provide paid supplementary tutoring after school
hours for their regular pupils. In the worst of cases educators teach
only parts of the curriculum during school hours, and force pupils to
pay for the rest during private lessons.
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"Public school teachers in Pakistan demand payment for each child in the form of "tuition". If parents do not meet these payments [...], the teachers were reported to beat the student or submit a failing grade for him or her." The World Bank's Voices of the Poor survey |
Examinations
The examination system is central to institutions based on meritocracy, and its fairness is crucial to ensuring quality outcomes in education. However, as is reported from India, cheating is so well established that when universities try to crack down on it, students protest and demand their traditional “right” to cheat. Other problems include beatings, or even killings, of conscientious staff members who attempt to work honestly, or on the other hand advance sales of exam questions and the fixing of final results.
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In Georgia, professors are reported to hand out price lists for passing exams. Student can practically buy their way through education, paying for every exam and, ultimately, a diploma. Moreover, students can bypass the higher education system altogether by simply buying a diploma from an established university. The World Bank's Voices of the Poor survey |
Teacher management and professional conduct
Recruitment
As criteria for recruitment are repeatedly bypassed, unqualified personnel are often appointed. Placements in rural schools tend to be unpopular, especially among unmarried and female teachers, and can sometimes be avoided by bribing public officials. Skewed distributions of teacher postings can leave some schools overstaffed and others in crisis. Salaries paid to “ghost teachers” are a problem which worsens with a proliferation of rules and regulations:
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In pre-civil war Liberia, the process of replacing teachers who had died or left teaching was highly complex and corrupt. New teachers needed 29 official signatures to get onto the payroll. As a remedy, headmasters were allowed to appoint temporary substitutes who could cash the pay checks of the teachers they replaced. Principals quickly realised that they could cash these pay checks and keep the money without appointing new staff. A high incidence of “ghost teachers” resulted, and when district and central officials realised this, instead of trying to eliminate the practice they demanded a cut of the proceeds. Chapman |
For promotion purposes candidates may bribe or otherwise influence promotion committees. Despite the rigid academic hierarchy in universities, senior academics often promote unqualified friends or colleagues to new positions.
Corruption also occurs in the allocation of loans and scholarships.
Teacher misconduct
Motivated and efficient teachers are crucial for quality in teaching. However, people in developing countries often complain of absent or abusive teachers and their demands for illegal fees. The proceeds from such fees, as well as other favours received as payment, are frequently for the private gain of educators. It is not uncommon to find pupils exploited as unpaid labour, drunk teachers in schools, sexual and physical abuse, or simply classes where no teaching is conducted at all.
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A study of sexual violence in Botswana (2001) revealed that 67% of girls reported sexual harassment by teachers. 11% of the girls surveyed seriously considered dropping out of school due to harassment (despite the fact that Botswana provides 10 years of free education) and 10% consented to sexual relations for fear of reprisals in respect of grades and performance records. |
Teacher absenteeism is a serious and widespread problem in many countries. A survey of thousands of primary schools carried out by the World Bank in 2002/3 in seven developing countries found that teacher absenteeism ranged from 13% (in Peru) to 58% (in Indian states Assam and Bihar). In addition, many of those who were present at school did not carry out their duties.
Misuse of school property for private commercial purposes also constitutes corruption.
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Corruption in the education sector |
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Budget transparency |
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Formula funding |
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Alessandra Fontana
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Donors’ Contributions to Anti-Corruption in the Education Sector| RECOMMENDED READING |
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Guidelines for the design and effective use of teacher codes of conducts Poisson, M (2009) To increase the professionalization of teacher, several countries have developed codes of conduct in the education sector. But even when such codes exist, their impact is sometimes questionable due to a variety of reasons. UNESCO has developed comprehensive guidelines not only to guide countries willing to design (or review) their code but also to implement and monitor how the code is used at all levels in the sector, including its integration into teachers’ education and professional development. The shadow education system: private tutoring and its implications for planners Bray, M (1999) This booklet problematises the phenomenon of private tuition. It states that private tuition has become part of the education environment to such an extent that nobody really questions its existence. Private tutoring has grown to become a vast enterprise and fee-free education doesn't necessarily mean free of cost. A central argument is that private supplementary tutoring deserves much greater attention than it has so far received. Different sides of private tutoring are discussed with the aim of uncovering both positive and negative aspects. The author questions whether schooling in the public system should be free of charge since people appear both willing and able to pay a lot of money for private tutoring. However, private tutoring may have an impact on social inequalities and economic development in different societies. Corruption is not mentioned, but there is a clear connection between what is said here about private tutoring and various forms of government corruption. Preventing Corruption in the Education System Ochse, K L (2004) This practical guide is produced by GTZ under the sector project ‘Prevention of Corruption’, and addresses those responsible for development cooperation projects aiming to promote reform in the education sector. The guide aims to provide ideas and practical support, and to indicate ways of integrating corruption-prevention components appropriately in projects of this nature. Based on the priorities of German development cooperation in the Education system, the guide is built around the identification of manifestations and possible weak points in terms of corruption related to 1) personnel, 2) the finance and procurement system in educational institutions, 3) access to educational institutions, and 4) quality and quantity of education. The guide proceeds to point out measures to prevent corruption for each of these areas. |
| RECOMMENDED RESOURCES AND EVENTS |
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| RESOURCES FROM CIHE |
The Higher Education Corruption Monitor Academic Corruption in The News:
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