TI projects & activities/corruption_education/education/other thematic issues/global priorities

TI projects & activities

The Africa Education Watch programme (2007 – 1010) aims to improve transparency and accountability in the use of primary education resources in seven African countries: Morocco, Senegal, Niger, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Uganda. It assesses waste, leakages and corruption in primary education , and strengthens demand for policy reforms and improved service delivery.
In the context of the global agenda of achieving Education for All (EFA), recent scaling-up of resources for primary education that has not always led to better outcomes. The programme builds on the assumption that leakage, waste and inefficiencies in the use of financial resources are an important reason for poor education outcomes. [see programme summary]

also see:

TI Working Paper: Corruption in Education Sector
This TI working paper describes various forms of corruption in the education sector, from education finance to examination fraud or teacher management and classroom behaviour. The paper also offers suggestions on how to control corruption in education and to create incentives to prevent it.

The Global Corruption Barometer, a public opinion survey conducted for Transparency International by Gallup International, measures the extent of corruption across sectors, amongst them education. [see surveys and indices]

TI chapter activities

TI chapters around the world are working to address corruption in education, both by evaluating its scope and by providing tools and measures to prevent it.

	Stealing the Future – Corruption in the Classroom (2005) This book presents ten micro-studies on corruption in the education sector carried out by Transpareny International chapters in Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Georgia, Mexico, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Sierra Leone and Zambia. [see book]

Measuring corruption

Some TI chapters have measured the extend and magnitude of corruption in education: TI Kenya’s study on the Teachers Service Commission and corruption in teacher management reveals that perceptions of corruption in teacher appointment and deployment do not always match reality. However, serious problems of integrity exist in the sector. [see integrity study]

TI Korea has conducted four surveys between 2001 and 2005 to measure levels of tolerance of corruption amongst Korean youth. [see presentation]

TI’s contact group in Ukraine, the Anticorruption Committee, aims to prevent corruption in public administration, the judiciary and in higher education. A concept note on corruption in Ukraine’s education system can be downloaded.
[see concept note]

TI Bosnia and Herzegovina has carried out surveys on levels of acceptance of corruption by university students in 2004 and 2005. The results are compiled in the report 'Corruption in Education and the Role of Education in Combating Corruption'.
[see report]

Transparencia Colombia's annual Transparency Index measures corruption risks in institutions such as the national Education Ministry, public Universities, and regional education departments. [see website]

Proética, the TI Chapter in Peru, runs a campaign together with the national ombudsman of Peru to diagnose corruption. In this campaign ‘Education Without Corruption’, citizens have reported corruption cases in six regions of the country. The report 'Con corrupción no hay educación' (2007) is available for download. [see report]

Monitoring

Some TI chapters use participatory monitoring tools to increase accountability of education providers:

The Center for Regional Development in Armenia works to improve transparency and accountability in secondary schools, using participatory monitoring methods such as community score cards and budget tracking. [see website] [see report]

The TI chapter in Sierra Leone, National Accountability Group, conducted a report card survey on corruption in education, health and agriculture in 2006. [see survey]

TI Bangladesh works with Committees of Concerned Citizens throughout the country, and provides citizen feedback on the quality of education through Citizen Report Cards. [see website]

Procurement

Corruption in procurement for educational goods and infrastructure deprives children of the resources they need for a good education. Some TI chapters have worked in this area:

Poder Ciudadano, the TI chapter in Argentina, has worked to prevent corruption in textbook procurement for many years.
Most recently it monitored the purchase of 1.6 million textbooks by the General Directorate of Culture and Education.
[see website]

TI Bangladesh conducted a study on crooked textbook procurement in 2001. The deal had left millions of children without textbooks and their parents with additional costs. It was dubbed the 'textbook crisis'. [see report]

Transparencia Mexicana diagnoses integrity in advertisement, selection and acquisition processes for free text books in public secondary schools in collaboration with the Mexican Publishers Association. [see website]

More information

For more information on the work of TI chapters in the field of corruption in the education sector, please see TI's [back to school in focus].