In the media

The second university ethics and good governance movement summit has kicked off yesterday in Jimma University. Federal ethics and anti-corruption commission Head said universities should pay equal attention to producing ethical graduates as much as training competent ones. The Head added major construction projects at universities, bids on purchases, student canteen services, etc. should be based on accountability and transparency.

The education sector shows a slow but steady improvement in corruption index [Transparency International] over the last few years. It is a great development in an environment when corruption in all sectors of public administration is galloping at faster pace.

Irish universities have been criticized for being linked to corrupt and unethical regimes. The former head of the Bahrain campus of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has commented that third-level Irish institutions are "intimately engaged with regimes that have human rights" questions to answer".

Continuous strengthening of internal financial control and a policy of zero tolerance for maladministration and corruption by the Ministry of Education has led to an unprecedented ongoing investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Strengthened measures at the ministry uncovered suspicious incidents where there was the possibility of rogue companies benefiting from ministerial procurement.

Poor management and a lack of transparency are damaging the delivery of primary education in South Africa, according to a new report from Transparency International. The report shows that one quarter of the schools in the districts surveyed were considered to be at high risk of corruption, and one in three principals considered embezzlement a significant concern.

Following the adoption in Burundi of a strategy for good governance and fight against corruption, the country has just produced a reference document that gives leaders and the public a long-term perspective vis-à-vis good governance and the fight against corruption. This document includes a chapter on education.

Corruption threatens good governance, sustainable development, democratic process and fair business environment. Young Citizen reporter caught students from Mapambano Tuition Center expressing their views in a debate whose motion is: teaching corruption subject from primary school level will help to eradicate corruption.

The annual report of Transparency International on corruption perception worldwide shows that progress has been made in Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe. The report also underlines that corruption most afflicts the poorest countries where governance is nonexistent and that money acquired through corrupt practice often come from multinationals based in rich countries.

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.

Compton community college lost its accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in June. The regional accrediting body cited poor governance, lack of education plans, lack of student support services, and an inadequate administrative staff as reasons for revoking the schools accreditation. The school is now being taken over by the state, despite California's highly decentralized system.