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92 Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia
• At the school household level, there were mixed views on the process
of recruiting students to TTCs, with a slight majority considering it not
to be fair to all students.
• Reported manipulation of the points system for selection of students
to higher education entails allocating higher percentage points
for results from transcripts and national exams than for entrance
exams. Such manipulation is perceived to have enabled a large number
of inadequately qualified students to join the affected institutes,
sometimes with forged transcripts. This practice has affected the
quality of students gaining entry to higher education and eroded the
quality of the training program.
Favoritism or nepotism in the assessment of students—risk: medium. Survey
responses paint a mixed picture of the risk of corruption in the assessment
of students, specifically as follows:
• Higher-education and TTC staff members perceive assessment as
depending entirely on academic achievement and attendance record.
• Of the university and TTC students, 92 percent believe academic factors
influence the assessment of students. However, most consider students
not to be judged fairly and report that teachers do not respect
equality of students regarding religion, sex, or ethnic origin. Twentyfive
percent consider a student’s political affiliation to be a factor influencing
the assessment of work; 20 percent consider the payment of
gifts to be a factor in obtaining a degree; and 12 percent report political
affiliation to be a factor. In addition, 42 percent report that staff members
change marks; 33 percent report that staff favor their relatives; and
27 percent say the staff members selectively leak questions.
• School staffs report low levels of conflict between teachers and students
over grades. When it occurs, the main complaints are that some
students are favored more than others, including by receiving advance
information about exams.
Fraud (and related bribery) in examinations—risk: high. Survey responses
suggest a significant risk of corruption in examinations. Further discussions
with key stakeholders identified generally high levels of perceived risk.
The types of fraudulent practices in examinations include the following:
• Forged admission cards enable students to pay other students to sit
exams for them. Such a practice is made possible by the poor quality