Mapping corruption risks in the Guinean education sector
A national drive against corruption
This activity is part of the action programme of the ANLC, which has a mission to "carry out studies and research on good governance, integrity, ethics and transparency" and to "advise the administrative authorities on appropriate measures to prevent or curb acts of corruption". This is sixth integrity review of this kind led by the IIEP, or in partnership with other actors.
Corruption risks in the Guinean education system
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The mapping is based on a review of existing documentation on the Guinean education system, as well as on in-depth interviews conducted in the field with some 15 institutions, and 50 people in Guinea involved in primary and secondary education, technical and vocational training, and higher education.
The report presents a detailed analysis of corruption risks in five main areas, namely:
- information,
- financing
- personnel management
- public procurement and
- examinations.
Among the main risks identified are: the presence of ghost teachers and students on official lists; the inflation of candidate numbers for examinations and competitions; the use of the grants allocated to schools for unjustified activities; the allocation of scholarships to fictitious students; trading of grades for favours; inflated estimations of the number of textbooks needed to supply the private market; school food wastage at the level of storage warehouses; and the production and use of fake diplomas.
Recommendations
The report provides a detailed list of practical recommendations for improving ethics, transparency and accountability in each of these areas. Some of these recommendations are summarised below, by way of illustration:
- Information: Organise regular biometric censuses of primary, secondary and vocational education staff, and students; clarify the conditions for transfer and secondment of teachers at central and deconcentrated administration levels;
- Financing: Carry out a new public expenditure tracking survey in order to trace flows of funds from the central level down to the schools; establish clear rules concerning the amount of fees collected from families and communicate them to the public;
- Staff management: Streamline staff movements based on clear and strictly applied criteria, including details on transfer conditions and procedures; review the teacher code of conduct, and consider the formulation of an ethical charter for higher education;
- Public procurement: Ensure that verification committees in charge of monitoring the quality of equipment and supplies are functioning correctly; implement strict management and inventory control of textbooks and foodstuffs at all levels, using a computerised system;
- Examinations: Computerize and automatize the management of national examinations and competitions, thus limiting the number of intermediaries; protect national examination and competition centers, with the use of security forces when necessary.
Sector-wide response
Finally, the report includes recommendations that are more specifically aimed at improving governance in the education sector as a whole: from strengthening internal oversight bodies to improving public access to information, including through the introduction of school report cards.
These recommendations will be discussed in detail with the country's public authorities at a feedback workshop organised by the ANLC and scheduled for May 2021. The recently adopted Ten-Year Education Programme in Guinea (ProDEG) - which sets out the country's major policy orientations and priority programmes for the period 2020-2029 in the field of education - should provide a conducive framework for their implementation.
More information on IIEP's corruption risk mapping activities here
