From awareness to action: youth leading Integrity in schools

While young people are keeping a watchful eye on corruption arising in almost every walk of life, the education sector is one of particular significance to them. At Transparency International, we are pioneering models that position young people as leading agents of integrity in their schools and universities.

What is the impact of corruption in the education sector?

Corruption in the education sector affects primary, secondary and tertiary institutions alike and can arise during virtually any process designed to help deliver education to the public. This ranges from public school funding being siphoned off into private pockets to bid rigging, the diversion of school supplies, unqualified teachers obtaining positions through nepotism and favouritism, or students being forced to make informal payments for grades or admissions. The effects of these practices go beyond the immediate harm caused to students and their families: in a context of often limited education resources, public finance officials may need cut spending in order to compensate for the losses incurred to their coffers by corruption.

It is unsurprising that young people are exposed to and negatively impacted by corruption in the sector considering they are among the main intended beneficiaries of schools and universities. On top of this, age can intersect with various other risk-factors -such as ethnicity, disability status or gender identity - and shape exposure to corruption. For example, we are only starting to understand how frequently sexual corruption - defined as the abuse of entrusted power to demand or obtain sex or acts of a sexual nature - is occurring in schools and universities, with evidence collected thus far suggesting young women and girls are disproportionally targeted.

However, evidence also suggests, perhaps most worryingly, that witnessing or suffering at the hands of corruption while at school or university can lead young people to become apathetic, then normalise and replicate such corrupt behaviour in their later lives. Likewise, the idea of students themselves instigating corruption cannot be ruled out, even if it’s ultimately damaging to them in the long run.

What can be done to reduce corrupt practices education?

This brings us to a logical conclusion – educational institutions are important in shaping young people's attitudes and behaviours towards corruption; places of learning can be a source of reinforcement of both positive and negative norms.

Measures to combat corruption within education can include mainstreaming anti-corruption and integrity modules in schools and universities. Young people are themselves calling for this; participants in a youth forum held on the margins of 2021 Special session of the General Assembly (UNGASS) against corruption said it was “necessary to substantially strengthen educational programmes on integrity, transparency and anti-corruption, starting from a very young age”.

However, addressing corruption requires more than classroom lessons. Fortunately, young people are energetic and innovative communicators, who know how to get a message across, including raising awareness about corruption.

How can young people lead the fight against corruption?

Transparency International empowers young people to do just this. Across one hundred national chapters spanning the globe, we have countless examples of integrity schools, clubs and ambassadors in which young people are entrusted to act as anti-corruption leaders and given the tools to hold public stakeholders accountable, including in the very schools and universities they attend. For example, our Integrity School in Vietnam provided training and seed grants to young integrity champions who went on to cascade their learnings in secondary schools.

Our Anti-Corruption Kit sets out a range of actions young people can undertake, from monitoring the stocks of education materials in their own schools to ensure they are not embezzled, to developing and using ICT tools to report corruption experienced in the education sector.

Our current flagship project, looking into corruption within the education sector, is the Inclusive Service Delivery Africa (ISDA) project. With support from Global Affairs Canada, we are working with national chapters to address the identified barriers and improve access to education and healthcare services for women, girls, and other groups at risk of discrimination in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Madagascar, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.

Here too, we are harnessing the power of youth, in particular amplifying the voices of young women. For example, integrity ambassadors in Zimbabwe are using regional social messaging groups to raise awareness about corruption in education, which has already resulted in direct engagement with key political stakeholders. Meanwhile, in Ghana, our chapter has launched social auditing clubs across multiple districts where youth groups actively participate in monitoring the use of public resources allocated to education.

More work needs to be done to scale up these models globally, but they already converge towards some clear overlapping wins. That is, if we truly invest in youth’s potential to stand up for integrity, we will also help them cultivate respect for their own education and their future.

About the author

Jamie works as a research coordinator for the Transparency International U4 Helpdesk and for the Inclusive Service Delivery Africa project. Jamie’s prior experience includes a stint at UNDP Kenya, where he supported projects on anti-corruption, electoral assistance and strengthening civic space, as well as working on the anti-human trafficking agenda at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He holds a bachelor's degree in law from University College Dublin and a master’s in advanced international studies from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.