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The African Union report shows that at least 57 percent of people who make contact with schools in Malawi pay bribes. Informal payments threaten children’s rights and welfare. For example, informal charges by teachers for teaching, and for additional items such as school meals, books, uniforms or exams can drive poorer students in particular to miss school. In addition, the acquisition of fake or fraudulent qualifications affect the learning outcomes of children.

According to Transparency International, 66 per cent of the money Nigerian governments allocate to education is stolen by corrupt officials. Resource misallocation, corrupt procurement, exchange of sex for grades, examination malpractices, fake qualifications, teacher absenteeism, and corrupt recruitment practices are just some examples of the challenges the education systems is facing. This affects the quality of education, inclusion and learning outcomes with devastating consequences for national economic growth.

While corruption hampers all development efforts, it is a debilitating presence in the education sector. Teacher absenteeism is one of the most serious forms of corruption in education. While there are many valid reasons for a teacher to be away from the classroom, some absences are clearly illegitimate.

A report from the World Bank, "Africa Development Indicators 2010", has concluded that "quiet corruption" faced by common citizens is undermining the continent's development efforts and adversely affects inflows of investments.