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As another school year begins in Afghanistan, the country continues to face insecurity, an epidemic of corruption within its education system and old customs that keep many students and qualified teachers away from classrooms. Violence and corruption are problems that can hardly be solved on grassroots level only. Increased violence forced more than 1,000 schools to shut their doors since 2016 and according to a report compiled by the country’s independent corruption monitor, corruption is “devastating” the education system and the country.

There is a wide consensus among policymakers and practitioners that while access to education has improved significantly for many children in low- and middle-income countries, learning has not kept pace. Information is a key building block of a wide range of strategies that attempts to tackle weaknesses in service delivery and accountability at the school level, even where political systems disappoint at the national level.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) launched a report on the Free Primary Education (FPE) programme, after the Ministry of Education revealed that most schools cannot account for the funds. According to the EACC Chief Executive Officer, the report will help in ensuring accountability in public schools, given that heads of schools will be required to detail how every shilling allocated by the government is spent.

A report by the Joint Legislative Public Account Committee (PAC) has linked a former Minister of Education and his deputy to misapplication of US$60,493 during their tenure at the Ministry of Education. The money, according to the report, was intended for the Government of Liberia Free and Compulsory Primary Education program.

School councils serves as an instrument for Parents' Associations, through their Confederations and Federations, to inform and encourage parents to vote in school council elections and to stand as candidates for school councils.

In the most remote regions of Pakistan, the education of young children is problematic. Due to a lack of resources, many schools have been abandoned and teachers, inadequately paid by a failing government, are not coming to teach. Thousands, if not millions, of children are deprived of an education and left to fend for themselves.

A mixture of endemic poverty and corruption in the education system and government abuses have not allowed children in rural areas access to basic education. Investment in basic education is crucial for future development, as 40% of the Honduran population is under 14.