Anti-corruption education builds resistance to corruption by promoting ethical values, expectations and attitudes, and by developing public understanding of our common responsibility to hold those in positions of power to account.

Anti-corruption education is a vital and necessary component of any anti-corruption strategy. Corruption can only be addressed if people are equipped to demand accountability from government and from public services, when they expect leaders to act with integrity and are intolerant of corruption in their daily lives. Over the following pages, anti-corruption education is divided into four categories: organisational ethics training, value-based and moral education, public education and mobilisation and youth education. It is worth noting, however, that there are significant linkages between these various categories.

Anti-corruption education is a composite term. In fact, many different forms of education contribute to building resistance against corruption. Awareness-raising campaigns about the devastating effects of corruption, information on anti-corruption laws, procedures and institutions, human rights and voter education, and school curriculum topics such as citizenship and ethics, can all increase people’s motivation, knowledge and skill to confront corruption. Ultimately, anti-corruption is not a stand-alone issue, but part of a broader ethical agenda.

Anti-corruption education can be defined as the activity of teaching or sharing experiences that strengthens knowledge, skills and attitudes to resist corruption and to act against it. These three capacities, all of which can be used to act against corruption, can be further defined as follows:

• Knowledge: To be informed about regulations and laws; about complaint mechanisms; about citizens’ rights and duties;
• Skills: The ability to identify conflicts of interest and to confront ethical dilemmas; the ability to speak out vis-à-vis the authorities;
• Attitudes: Interest in public affairs; responsible citizenship; taking responsibility for the public good; rejecting corruption.

It is important to note that anti-corruption education differs from anti-corruption information. The latter refers to transmitting basic data about corruption - its magnitude, costs, effects, causes and strategies to prevent it. Anti-corruption education, on the other hand, is about understanding the concepts underlying this data and, importantly, about learning how to address corruption. In other words, education implies more than information in that it aims to build ethical consciousness among individuals and contribute to societies that do not tolerate corruption. A distinction should also be made between anti-corruption education and indoctrination or moral preaching. Anti-corruption education will only be effective if it respects personal values and encourages individuals to question authority.

The goals of anti-corruption education

First of all, anti-corruption education aims at strengthening public awareness and participation in political life, mobilising the public to stand-up against corruption. Institutions and services are more likely to work in citizens’ interests if they are expected to do so. If, for example, the public expects criminal law to be enforced, culprits to be convicted or audits to be accurate, it is likely that officials will be more vigilant in guarding against corruption. It is public awareness and participation that makes anti-corruption laws and institutions effective: citizens who are informed of their rights and are concerned about the effects of corruption are more likely to report abuse and co-operate with investigations and prosecutions.

Secondly, anti-corruption education aims at strengthening individual capacity for ethical decision-making. This is particularly important where the boundaries between corrupt and non-corrupt behaviour are difficult to define - for example, where family values, such as loyalty, clash with professional work ethics like impartiality. There are many situations in which the letter of the law does not define the proper, ethical course of action. Anti-corruption education can build individual skills to identify and address ethical dilemmas, as well as instil motivation to reach ethically sound decisions.

Anti-corruption education cannot work in isolation. A society that is resistant to corruption needs strong political commitment, an appropriate legal and institutional framework, as well as effective accountability and enforcement mechanisms. Even where an ideal framework does not exist, however, anti-corruption education can contribute to laying the foundations necessary to bring about long-term change.

Social tolerance of corruption

Building resistance to corruption is particularly difficult in situations where instances of corrupt practice are, to some extent, tolerated. In some countries, particular social taboos may pressure individuals not to denounce fellow citizens engaged in corruption. Alternatively, peer pressure in a particular organisation may lead some individuals to turn a blind eye to unethical practice. In some contexts, levels of tolerance for petty corruption may be high, particularly if salaries are low and corruption involving a society’s elite goes without sanction. It is important to note, however, that the claim that some cultures are inherently more prone to corruption than others has, in recent years, been thoroughly dismissed (For more on the link between culture and corruption see: http://www.u4.no/helpdesk/faq/faqs4.cfm#3 ).

Contradictory moral and ethical messages

An individual’s moral character and ethical behaviour is shaped by a broad set of factors. Role models often have a more decisive influence on people’s attitudes and behaviour than formal values education. Parents, teachers, work superiors, political leaders and celebrities all transmit moral messages, both positive and negative.

When moral messages are contradictory, they become ineffective. For example, when parents tell their children they must study to pass an exam, this message may be negated if the child’s experience is that grades can be bought. Countering corruption in education systems is therefore closely linked to the promotion of anti-corruption education.

Corruption in education

Corrupt practices in the form of illegal fees for school entrance or compulsory but illegal private tuition, are frequent in many countries - depriving many children of the chance for a better life. If students believe that personal effort and merit do not count and that success comes through manipulation, favouritism and bribery, the very foundations of society are at risk. Ethics education in formal education systems should be accompanied by effective measures to prevent corruption in the education sector at all levels.

Public apathy with politics

Public opinion is influenced by a complex set of social, economic and political factors and cannot be altered via education alone. Sadly, participation in public and political life - an essential ingredient of effective corruption prevention – appears to be in worldwide decline. The increasing gap between rich and poor in most countries has left many people sceptical of the utility of politics. A survey of young people’s attitudes to democracy and citizenship conducted in the late 1990’s in 30 countries found “a frequent general disdain for politics” (Source: IEA Civic Education Project 1999). Such circumstances present difficult conditions for anti-corruption education.

Long-term resource commitments

Public education campaigns are costly. To effectively alter public thinking, substantial long-term political and budgetary commitments are essential. As an example, Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption is frequently quoted for its outstanding success in reducing corruption via public education. In 1998 alone, however, it spent US$ 90 million on its education programme, offering 2,700 workshops for public and private organisations and other awareness-raising projects.