Search Page

Educating school children and young adults on the subject of corruption on the Seychelles’ three main islands is the aim of a joint project between Transparency Initiative Seychelles (TIS) and the Anti-Corruption Commission Seychelles (ACCS). Other than educating students and pupils, key activities under the project consist of revising the existing Anti-Corruption Act, reinforcing the capacity of the Transparency Initiatives Seychelles and to improve the latter’s advocacy through technical assistance and equipment.

European Commission officials are expected to hold talks with government representatives in Bulgaria over the alleged mismanagement of funds in the operational programme Science and Education for Smart Growth in the European Union budget. Bulgaria has received funding for 116 agreements totalling BGN324 million (€165 million or US$174 million), and of these, eight projects have reportedly been found to be mismanaged, with a total budget of BGN180 million (€92 million or US$97 million).

In a surprise move, the president of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Germany this week announced plans to overhaul controversial contracts governing the use of a €150 million donation from a philanthropic foundation. Critics have charged that the agreement gives the donor too much control over publishing decisions and faculty appointments at the school’s Institute of Molecular Biology, which the foundation helped create in 2009. The move, which could eventually influence similar funding arrangements at other German universities, only partly satisfies critics. They are pushing for greater transparency from universities and donors.

The first seminar on "Corruption, Transparency and Education" was held on May 28, 2016 at the Pedagogical Institute of Cyprus by Transparency International-Cyprus (TI-C). TI-C has included in its Strategic Plan for 2016 the important issue of education in an effort to raise awareness and build capacity for primary school teachers on Transparency, corruption and education. Given the success of the first seminar, TI-C looks forward to conducting more seminars for interested teachers who will act as the force to building capacity for the youngsters and ensure that they will not tolerate corruption.

German university heads have welcomed proposals by the Stifterverband – a network of foundations, businesses and individuals supporting the country’s higher education and research – for improved transparency in collaborations between universities and industry. The recommendations, issued in mid-April, stress the “responsibility of universities, as autonomous institutions, to regularly and appropriately inform the public about their collaborative projects with industry”.

Non-governmental organizations (NGO) have stated there are corruption schemes in the Ministry of Education and Science related to budget funds allocated for the needs of schools. According to the leader of NGO Maidan Information the Ministry of Education issued an order, according to which only one firm can supply school equipment. He noted that most equipment in schools have not been updated since the Soviet times, therefore it is unclear what happens with the UAH 200 million in state funds set aside for this purpose.

In order to combat corruption, one first has to recognize it and stop treating it as something “normal.” Activists argue that public education is the key to reversing attitudes that allow societies to remain complacent to corruption. In this context, three youth anti-corruption networks from Central and Eastern Europe are sharing their experiences in a new documentary series about corruption in education, which is now available online.

Following Transparency International’s latest Global Corruption Report on education, the Council of Europe is taking action to tackle corruption in education and to develop a Pan-European culture based on ethical principles: our new Ethics in Education Platform (ETINED) is to be launched on October 1 in Prague.

A warning by German anti-corruption organisation Transparency International that links between higher education and business are becoming increasingly obscure has sparked an open debate. "We are observing corporate interests increasingly dominating teaching and research to a large extent,” said Director of Transparency International Germany.