In the media

The National Anti-Corruption Forum (NACF), in a bid to combat corruption, has raised the importance of whistle blowing as part of the school curricula to create awareness amongst learners and teachers.

After being audited by the College Board's first quality-control of the Advance Placement program, some teachers have met with a surprising rejection of their courses. The results of the audit have rubbed the already bruised relationship between some high school AP teachers and the college professors who are evaluating them.

In Georgia, the Soviet legacy and the later collapse of state institutions produced an educational system plagued by corruption, nepotism, centralization and lack of teachers and professors. In addition, during the 90's, private low-quality schools with titles like "university" and "institute" sprang up. Controversies have been raised after colleges and universities have been closed or merged, and thousands of academic and administrative positions abolished.

The IIEP/UNESCO report "Corrupt schools, corrupt universities: What can be done" has identified private tuition as a major source of "unethical behavior" in India, observing that it has become a major industry, consuming a considerable amount of parents' money and pupils' time. Together with private tuitions, two other major problems that face the Indian education system are the manipulation of entrance test scores and teachers absenteeism.

Few people enter the teaching profession for the money. Teachers repeatedly describe it as "a vocation", widely recognized as a euphemism for poorly paid. But for a few enterprising teachers, the education system is rife with opportunities for personal financial gain. A report on corruption in education, published this week by UNESCO highlights ways in which heads, teachers and education officials can extort and embezzle school funds.

Federal government has blacklisted 232 individuals from participating in the conduct of examinations. The affected persons include school principals, supervisors, invigilators and examiners. 324 secondary schools had earlier been derecognized as centers for public examinations. The state had over 50 of its schools blacklisted in the exercise.

The Department of Education has organized a campaign to urged parents of public and private school students to join the government in its fight against corruption. The department has launched a new Graft and Corruption Prevention Education Teaching Exemplars (GCPETE) which will be used by public school teachers to integrate anti-graft and corruption lessons in values education for elementary and schools.

Only 360 teachers representing 30% of the total of 1,197 teachers at the basic level in the East Gonja district are qualified. The remaining 70% are untrained. The education director indicated that though the introduction of the capitation grant had led to increased enrolment of pupils at the basic schools, very few teachers were available to teach them.

The State Security Service (SSS) in Gombe State has discovered that 131 of the 936 Universal Basic Education teachers recruited in the state recently presented fake NCE certificates for employment. A member of the syndicate has confessed that they printed and sold fake NCE certificates issued by the Federal College of Education.

A large number of parents have expressed their dissatisfaction over the way teachers are demanding money for the release of end-of-year results to their children. Parents are now calling on the minister of education to do something towards the extra charges in primary and secondary schools in order to up hold the free education scheme for all.