Combating Systemic Corruption in Education
Submitted by Sabina Panth on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 12:09
Studies have revealed a strong correlation between quality of
education and increased corruption in a country. According to a
Transparency International report, data collected to track progress in
education in 42 countries showed that the practice of paying bribes is
associated with a lower literacy rate among adolescents. Corruption is
also linked with increased inequality in the quality of education
between the rich and the poor. When resources allocated for public
education is inadequate or do not reach the schools, it is the poor
who bear the brunt. Unlike the rich, who can afford private tuition
for their children, the poor have to depend on the government.
The issues that have been identified include, forgery in procurement
practices; hiring and promotion of unqualified teachers; bribery in
admission and exam administration; and fabrication of documents and
false reporting (e.g., number of students enrolled or resources needed
or used). Poor governance practices, including lack of transparency
in budget formulation and resource allocation, non-existent or
deficient book keeping, weak capacity of local governance structures,
weak monitoring, and enforcement procedures are identified as
loopholes that encourage corrupt practices in the education sector.
Additionally, social norms, public apathy and a lack of political will
to address corrupt practices in education services are said to
exacerbate the problem further.
These issues were discussed at the 14th International Anti-Corruption
Conference held recently in Bangkok. During a workshop dedicated to
this topic, experiences from Ghana, Mongolia, the Philippines, Romania
and Vietnam were shared, all reporting similar issues and making
similar recommendations in combating corruption to enhance the quality
of education. Prevention education was seen as key, but the consensus
was that the answer lay primarily in promoting enforcement strategies.
Strengthening administrative and criminal sanction mechanisms,
including review of the existing legal framework, strengthening
inspection and monitoring mechanisms, legal enforcement, financial
management and systematic book-keeping, and building capacity in
supervision and management were recommended as effective measures in
controlling corruption in the education sector.
In addition to taking institutional measures, public awareness and
empowerment of citizens were seen as essential in pressuring the state
authorities to be responsive and accountable for quality delivery of
education services. Social accountability tools such as community
score cards and community monitoring have involved citizens in rating
the quality of services and tracking proper use of allocated resources
in the education sector. In Uganda, communities were mobilized to
monitor budget allocated for public schools, which uncovered cases of
corruption, resulting in the dismissal of the guilty officials.
Similarly, the community awareness and advocacy campaigns exposed the
district education officials, head teachers and building contractors
for misappropriating public funds in the country. In the Philippines,
boys-scouts, community members and CSOs were mobilized to monitor text
book service delivery in different parts of the country, which
resulted in improved service delivery and accountability in the
education sector. In Romania, the increased level of public awareness
and participation in the monitoring and ranking of universities is
said to not only have increased the quality and quantity of public
information, but also revealed a number of serious fraud cases that
were ultimately sent to court.
Education is the cornerstone of a vibrant and involved populace. For
this reason alone corruption within the education sector cannot be
allowed to flourish. The difficulty, as always, lies in the solution.
Experiences such as those above suggest that citizen empowerment and
institutional strengthening must go hand in hand to promote
accountability, transparency, and integrity within the educational
system.
http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/combating-systemic-corruption-education
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