Complete Book PDF (4.12MB) - World Bank eLibrary

Education Sector Corruption in Ethiopia 91
year of study. Once trained, the allocation of teachers to jobs is also centrally
managed. Although most teachers express positive views about
their profession, many resent being sent to work in remote rural communities,
which can in some cases also constitute a risk to their personal
security. Teachers from ethnic minorities can find themselves more likely
to be posted to remote areas as a result of the policy of providing primary
education in nationality languages. 14 In such circumstances, there is a
clear potential risk of bribery to avoid unpopular postings, although that
specific risk was not assessed in the survey.
Fraud to obtain teaching jobs—risk: high. Survey responses reveal a higher
reported prevalence of fraud and falsification of teaching qualifications
and other documents, reflecting weak controls, poor-quality documents
(that are easily falsified), and the widespread belief that such a practice
would not be detected.
Capture of recruitment by groups with vested interests—risk: high. Survey
responses suggest widespread political capture of recruitment in the
education sector. In addition to the previously reported perception of
political influence over the recruitment and deployment of teachers,
there are suggestions of broader influence being brought to bear. Among
school staff respondents claiming to understand the appointments system,
the appointment of local education officials was perceived, albeit by
a small sample, to be more a matter of being “politically assigned” than
competitive.
Bribery, favoritism, or nepotism in the selection of students—risk: medium.
Survey responses suggest a risk of favoritism or nepotism in the selection
of students, specifically as follows:
• Albeit from a small sample, a significant minority of the few public
officials claiming an involvement in admissions considered political
affiliation to be a factor, albeit less important than fulfillment of academic
criteria. The student’s home community was also considered to
be an influencing factor.
• Although university and TTC students reported clear and publicly
available criteria for admission, only 30 percent considered the admissions
procedures to be completely fair.
• Twenty percent of school staff perceived favoritism in the selection of
student teachers for TTCs.