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94 Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia
freed-up time to earn fees as teachers in private schools. This suggests that
a form of teacher absenteeism or, more correctly, “informal part-timeism”
is occurring, linked in some cases to bribery of other public officials who
enable or provide their silence for this diversion of human resources to
the private sector.
The lack of teacher absenteeism in the form found elsewhere is
explained in part by an understanding of accountability systems in
Ethiopia. In being recruited, teachers are required to meet certain expectations.
Although there may be a need to also make additional money,
there is a degree of community, party, and self-checking that makes teachers
balance the need for more private income with the service they have
been tasked with delivering.
Ghost payments—risk: low. Unlike many countries where this practice is
rife, Ethiopia seems to have adequate controls to ensure that the number
of “ghost teachers” is kept to a minimum. The supply-side systems that
would enable false names to be registered for salary payments in Ethiopia
have been overhauled and are reported to have improved as a result.
Nonetheless, survey reports suggest that a problem continues to exist
in relation to the payment of per diems to “ghost participants,” with some
woreda officials or those controlling the payments allegedly embezzling
funds through this practice. Further study would be needed to understand
the precise nature of this problem.
Physical abuse by teachers—risk: medium. Survey responses suggest that
physical abuse by teachers is generally rare. However, at the university
level, respondents reported some isolated instances of university teachers
demanding sexual favors from female students in exchange for fair marking.
The seriousness of this risk is enhanced by related reports of a lack of
confidence in the efficacy of mechanisms for reporting allegations of staff
malpractice.
Extortion of additional fees by teachers—risk: low. This risk relates to other
means by which teachers improperly extract fees from their students. The
survey responses identified some instances of charging fees, but these
were of an ambiguous nature, such as for the provision of ID cards, cleaning
of classrooms, and sports activities. No instance was reported of students
being required to pay for report cards.
Shifting services to private tuition—risk: medium. The survey found only a
limited number of cases where teachers were found to be charging private