ETICO, a
unique new portal aimed at fighting corruption in education systems around the
world, was launched today by UNESCO's International Institute for Educational
Planning (IIEP-UNESCO).
Corruption
is often hard to track and measure, but is found at different levels in countries’
education systems and is hampering access to education and children’s learning.
It results in children being denied a good-quality education. Examples of
corruption in education range from ghost schools and fake diplomas, to missing
textbooks, stolen school supplies, absent teachers and misallocation of school grants.
For
example, surveys carried out by IIEP partners tackling corruption estimate that
the salaries of absent or ghost teachers may account for 15-20% of payroll
costs in some countries; in some cases this is equal to half of the funds
allocated to improving school buildings, providing better class equipment and
buying school textbooks, etc.
The
ETICO
database, which houses the latest cutting-edge research
tracking ethics and corruption, is
a gateway for accessing expert training materials on transparency,
accountability and anti-corruption issues in education and for support in
implementing anti-corruption tools and strategies.
The global online platform will
serve as a key interactive discussion hub for national and international
partners who are promoting transparency. It will provide them with the
opportunity to upload and share research on
this crucial topic to help create a stronger united front against corruption in
education.
“It
is estimated that corruption is sucking millions of dollars out of the system,
and as a result many children are missing out on an education due to
malpractices and a serious lack of ethics in the system. The ETICO platform
aims to help prevent this by bringing all of the key stakeholders together to
fight against the problem and offer expert advice,” IIEP’s Senior Researcher on
anti-corruption and ethics in education, Muriel Poisson, said.
Through
its blog, the
ETICO platform will host in-depth discussions on tackling corruption by sharing
news and information, as well as highlighting best practices in countries where
interventions against corruption in education have proved successful.
The
launch of ETICO
coincides with the release of an important new IIEP publication, Achieving Transparency in Pro-Poor Education
Incentives. The
book outlines the best ways to ensure that scholarships, conditional cash
transfers, free school meals, etc., actually reach children from poor
backgrounds and families who need it most.
For example, in South Africa, the
quintile ranking system was designed to provide enhanced funding to schools
serving the poorest students. To ensure that funds are reaching the right
schools, several measures have been introduced, such as the use of objective,
transparent and publicly known targeting tables. This system is recognized as
an important effort towards ensuring greater equity in education by cutting
school fees for the poorest children in South Africa, thereby giving them
access to education.
In Brazil, the creation of food school councils has
reduced the risks of misappropriation of food or fraud in food procurement
– both problems in the past – by
institutionalizing the process of continuous programme monitoring and
accountability. Relying on the participation of the school community and civil
society, these councils scrutinize school menus and their related expenses.
They help reduce delay in the transfer of resources, cut down operational costs
and improve the quality of goods. The Brazilian school lunch programme reaches
over 45 million people, and provides stability to the lives of poor families
and students.
In
the Indian state of Rajasthan, 28% of schools have introduced display boards
that are available for public scrutiny. Usually painted on the school building,
they display key information related to the daily functioning of the school,
e.g. all financial investments made by the school; teacher attendance, etc.
Publicly displayed transparency boards are now regarded as an important feature
of community-based monitoring and public hearings are held where people are
invited to give testimonies of corrupt practices and government officials are
called upon to take action.
Presenting
research comparing seven projects implemented worldwide, Achieving Transparency in Pro-Poor
Education Incentives shows that measures taken to confront corruption
risks – such as school display boards, local transparency mechanisms, appeal
mechanisms, social audits, and informal whistleblowing, among actions taken is key
in the battle against corruption in education. These measures are seen as crucial
tools for achieving the Education for All goals. They are presented in detail on ETICO,
together with hundreds of other such cases.
