INTRODUCTION-

Corruption is an act of dishonesty committed by a person in power. It plagues our nation from the
highest echelons of power to the lowest functionaries. Everybody is involved in one or the other
aspect of corruption be it favoritisms, bribery, blackmail or just plain influence. Everybody uses it
to get his job done the easier way corruption exists everywhere, but higher the past, more is the
power, bigger are the slakes and larger is the amount of money involved. The government has
been trying hard to control such anti national acts. It has made lows and created anti corruption
organizations but corruption still prevails.

Corruption refers to the practice of misusing one’s power and position to achieve various illegal
ends. It implies the dishonest behaviour on the part of those who are in authority. Corruption
comes into existence when the officials use their office as a means to serve their immoral personal
objectives. The evil takes the serious form when the resources are not allowed to go where they
are intended to rather be diverging towards the officers’ own uses. It is by the virtue of this
practice that the fraudulent bureaucrats are able to make piles of money out of the funds meant for
public welfare. Corruption is a pervasive vice existing almost in every nation today. If we look
around our surroundings corruption is ubiquitous, the form may however vary. It has marked its
presence in every sphere of public dealing whether it is politics, public distribution system, public
utility services.

India, and let’s not mince words here, is a cesspool of corruption. The thought of stamping down
corruption, deep-rooted in the fabric of the Indian society, has been beaten to death in many a film
that depicts a hero valiantly fighting against the evils of corruption and its perpetrators. More often
than not, it is violence that showcases itself as the solution to root out corruption. In reality though,
and due to the widespread nature of corruption itself, the solution doesn’t lie in someone fronting
an amazing repertoire of fighting skills or verbally incisive dialogues to get their points across.

Corruption, as we are often reminded, is a malaise that doesn’t need treatment as it could
potentially rear its ugly head at unwelcome junctures in the future. It requires a massive effort to
raise not just awareness but strategies to tackle and obliterate corruption completely. Due to the
massive scale of such an operation, the logistics can be frightening if not downright daunting to

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say the least. Corruption is a pest and invariably endangers the morals of the entire country. It is
the greatest single bane of our society today and is bondage of our soul and being.

ISSUE-

India’s education system is mired in corruption and a high rate of teacher absenteeism in the
country was a key factor for it according to the new global study. The UNESCO’s
International Institute of Educational Planning study on corruption in education released
recently says that 25% teacher absenteeism in India is among the highest in the world, second
only after Uganda that has a higher rate. The global average of teacher absenteeism is about
20%.

Teacher absenteeism does not just affect quality of education; it is also a huge drain on
resources resulting in the wastage of 22.5% of education funds in India the study said.
Politics in teacher appointments and transfers is a major reason for teacher absenteeism
according to a professor at National University for Education Planning and Administration.

The study identifies the absence of well established criteria for teacher recruitment a uniform
policy on promotion, remuneration and deployment as some of the main reasons identified for
teacher absenteeism. However the report found married teachers to be more regular at job than
unmarried teachers.

In Bihar two of every five teachers were reported absent the figure in UP was reported to be
one-third of the total teachers. However in states like Gujarat and Kerala the figure was lower
than 15% the report based on several small studies.

Teachers also believe highly in private tutoring a practice identified by UNESCO as unethical.
It does not complement learning at school and leads to corruption the report said. The practice
of ghost teachers and involvement of teachers in mismanagement of schools were other gray
areas identified in the Indian education system.

Another indictment of the sorry state of Indian education was the view held by students that
cheating in examinations is their traditional right. In India universities cheating is now well-
established. The fees for manipulating entrance tests ranges between $ 80 to $ 20,000 for
popular programmes such as computer science, medicine and engineering the report said.

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It was an eye opening experience to see how huge mass of public money go into the pockets of the
incumbents in the name of education. Our present budget has increased the proportion of
expenditure on education by 34.2 per cent and has imposed one per cent additional educational
cess on the common man making it to be three per cent. The funds so earmarked and collected
from the masses are meant to be spent on the education of the poor but regrettably they end up into
the bureaucrats’ wallets.The teachers recruited by the government for the schools have no personal
interest in their work except their salaries. They are least bothered about their duties as they have
their pay packets guaranteed from the first day they join. They are quite sure that once they get
into the service will continue till their retirement age.

Being no check on the discharge of their duties, they are least concerned about imparting
education to the pupils in true terms. Government of India on its part has made huge investment in
the schools in the form of big buildings, adequate water and light facilities, airy classrooms and
not least, the high paid government teachers. Unfortunately, the students still don’t get education
as the teachers hardly come to the classrooms, being busy with their personal chores in the school
premises itself.

Some of the schools seem to be nothing more than tokenism as they promote those children also to
the next higher standard who remain absent from the classes the whole session but their names are
their in the books. They are made clear their examinations through various cheating modes. Such
practice is followed to show an impressive number of pass outs but one gets sceptical about the
knowledge level of such students.As per law in India, mid day meals are to be compulsorily
provided in the government schools. Here also corruption has its show to run. A major chunk of
food material so supplied is used in the teachers’ kitchens. This sorry state of affairs is the major
hindrance to the spread of literacy in the country.Looking on the other side of the coin, if we
compare the performance of small scale schools, being run with the limited funds, with the results
shown by the government schools, the former will prove to be remarkably performing better than
the latter.

Since the students at both types of schools hail from similar economic and social background, the
only reason for this paradox is the unconcerned attitude of recruits in both forms of organisations.
In the private schools there is no issue of being corrupt as the principal has the private money at
stake. They aim at providing their best to the students at a nominal charge so as to build up their

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goodwill. On the contrary, the government schools run with public money with no one to feel
personally responsible for its efficient utilisation instead it is plundered with the students gaining
nothing.

Mere spending of finance or enacting laws will not suffice unless it is assured that the teachers are
sincerely committed towards their job of imparting education. This spirit can be inculcated only if
they feel personally liable to provide the real education. The performance gap between small
private and mighty public schools offers us a feasible solution to this grave problem. As per
survey conducted by a non-government organisation (NGO), Government of India spends
approximately Rs 5000 per child annually (share for infrastructure, teachers salary etc). Instead of
providing such huge funds to the schools, the needy students may be provided with the education
vouchers of the alike amount, capable of being encashed only through educational institutions.
This will offer a wider choice to the parents for selecting the school for their children, instead of
the strict option of the government institution, as they would have a voucher in their hand enabling
them to approach any private school they like.

This will promote competition and in turn, will lead to the efficiency in the overall education
system. This however, needs an effective public private-partnership spirit with the government, on
its part, encouraging the efficient private schools through various supportive measures so as to
ensure that quality education reaches all. Education vouchers will instill the sense of competition
in providing good education at reasonable cost which will in turn be ensued by the overall
efficiency in the educational institutions sparing no space for corruption on the part of government
teachers.

Corruption in academic regulatory bodies has reached an all-time high, particularly when the
nation is envisioning education as a driver of growth. The paradigm shift in the development
priorities in favour of education will not bring the expected dividends if corruption in the
regulatory bodies continues unabated.

Corruption in the education sector not only distorts efficiency and quality parameters but also
acutely constrains social equity by making higher education out of the reach of the ‘aam
aadmi’. These distortions certainly come in the way of realising the cherished objective of
inclusive growth.The first tremor in the education sector came in the form of according the

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deemed university status to colleges and institutes on a wholesale basis. In many cases the status
was granted in gross violation of the UGC norms. The Tandon Committee constituted by the HRD
Ministry to investigate the deemed university scam has found that of the 130 deemed universities,
44 had abysmal academic and physical infrastructure and are mainly family fiefdoms. On the
recommendations of the Tandon Committee, the HRD Ministry derecognised 44 deemed
universities. The case of the derecognised deemed universities, having two lakh students on their
rolls, is with the Supreme Court.

In case of the AICTE scam, the CBI has completed its probe in about 200 complaints. The agency
found that 42 institutes were granted illegal approval by the AICTE. In a glaring case the agency
detected that one building was inspected by the experts appointed by the AICTE thrice and
recommended approval for three different colleges for the same building. A few inspection
committees did not visit the site of the proposed colleges but submitted their reports. The AICTE
scam is so large that 17 CBI branches are investigating it.

The Medical Council of India has also a dubious record for granting approval to medical colleges.
The MCI President was arrested recently for accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore. According to reports,
the CBI in its recent raids found that the former President of the MCI and his family possessed
disproportionate assets worth Rs 24 crore. A good development is that the President of India has
dissolved the MCI and replaced it by a six-member Board of Governors.

The growing cases of corruption in education result in not only distortions in the market but also
affect adversely social equity a central pillar of inclusive growth. The managements of corrupt
educational institutions recover the bribe money from students by charging hefty fee and
unauthorised charges. The Tandon Committee has reported that many deemed universities have
been charging fee much higher than that approved by the official fee structure committees. The
practice of charging exorbitant fee and unapproved charges denied the less privileged segments of
society like the poor, SCs and STs, women, and rural students access to higher education, thus
making professional education less inclusive.

The quality of education is another casualty of corruption. For the institutions getting approval by
corrupt practices, making money is the sole mission. These greed-centric institutions thrive on

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unethical practices and are virtually degree printing machines having no correlation whatsoever
with quality. The ill-baked products of these institutions in no way can help the nation build a
knowledge-based economy.

The Tandon Committee has found that many universities have violated the guidelines prescribing
excellence in teaching, research and innovations and are basically running unrelated programmes
accompanied by thoughtless teaching pedagogy. Only a few private deemed universities supplied
evidence of good quality research, especially in the form of publications in high impact journals.

Thirdly, these institutions hardly recruit meritorious faculty. A skeleton and under-qualified
faculty is the general norm. The qualified faculty, if any, is under-paid and does not enjoy job
security benefits. The talented faculty is perceived as a threat to the unethical practices followed
by these institutions.

Fourthly, for want of quality products of these institutions are hardly employable. These
institutions thus in the long run may add to the frustration of youth in the country which may erupt
like a volcano at any time. Given the huge social cost of corruption among regulatory bodies, it is
essential to attend corruption at the policy, investigation and trial levels expeditiously in the light
of following suggestions.

The rules of the game (i.e. approval granting criteria) should be made more explicit, transparent,
quantifiable and measurable. Each case of approval must pass the test of social audit before getting
the final nod. It should be mandatory for all the institutions to put and update information about
courses, fee structure, faculty, infrastructure and placement on their websites. Accreditation should
be obligatory for all institutions of higher learning. The approval should be cancelled in case an
institution does not qualify the accreditation test.

There is need to evolve an institutional mechanism for appointing persons of high integrity and
impeccable reputation as members of these bodies. The process of appointment may consist of
constituting a search committee followed by an integrity audit undertaken by intelligence agencies
of the short-listed candidates and validation of credentials of the finally selected candidates by
sources other than the earlier ones.

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High salaries and handsome perquisites should be introduced for attracting and retaining persons
of high integrity in the regulatory bodies. Corruption in educational institutions should be made a
non-bailable offence. The ongoing cases of corruption should be expeditiously resolved
accompanied by exemplary punishments to the guilty.

The civil society, the media, whistle-blowers, students and their parents along with the
government should play an effective role in eliminating corruption from the education sector.
Informed decisions by admission-seekers will automatically weed out the substandard institutions.

CORRUPTION IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR-

The manifestations of corrupt practices repeat themselves across countries and regions. Lists of
possible forms can help detect anomalies and to carry out in-depth analysis by using tracking
surveys, audits, etc. There are many stages where corruption takes place. Some of them are-

Planning and school management

1) Funding decisions- Decisions on government funding for new and existing schools are
often taken outside the appropriate organs. Outcomes include unnecessary building of schools
as projects are selected for purely personal and political reasons, disregarding real needs.

2) Procurement- Corruption in procurement affects the acquisition of educational material

(curriculum development, textbooks, library stock, uniforms, etc), meals, buildings, and
equipment. As sales levels are guaranteed in such acquisitions, bidders eagerly pay bribes to
secure the infallibly high profits.Where textbooks and supplies are monopolised by the state
and bidding procedures are irregular, poor quality products become the norm and contracts
are frequently secured by unprofessional agents.

3) School accreditation- The post-cold war period has seen private teaching institutions and
degree programmes mushroom. New institutions and degrees must be recognised through a
system of accreditation traditionally managed by the relevant ministry. Private and public
schools and institutes may bribe their way into getting these necessary authorisations, and

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corruption in accreditation is widespread. The results are potentially devastating as graduates
with poor professional qualifications enter the labour market.

Student admission and examination-

1) Admission-Entrance exam papers can be sold in advance to high-paying candidates. Oral

examinations are even more open to corruption as evaluations are subjective and difficult
to monitor. Corrupt practices often become the routine as candidates even know how
much a "pass" costs, and are expected pay cash upfront.

2) Private tutoring- Supposedly free primary education becomes prohibitively expensive for
poor families when the reality requires paying for private tutors in order to pass. Thus,
private tutoring can exacerbate social inequalities, particularly when ordinary teachers
provide paid supplementary tutoring after school hours for their regular pupils. In the
worst of cases educators teach only parts of the curriculum during school hours, and force
pupils to pay for the rest during private lessons.

3) Examinations- The examination system is central to institutions based on meritocracy, and

its fairness is crucial to ensuring quality outcomes in education. However, as is reported
from India, cheating is so well established that when universities try to crack down on it,
students protest and demand their traditional “right” to cheat. Other problems include
beatings, or even killings, of conscientious staff members who attempt to work honestly,
or on the other hand advance sales of exam questions and the fixing of final results.

Teacher management and professional conduct-

1) Recruitment- As criteria for recruitment are repeatedly bypassed, unqualified personnel are
often appointed. Placements in rural schools tend to be unpopular, especially among
unmarried and female teachers, and can sometimes be avoided by bribing public officials.
Skewed distributions of teacher postings can leave some schools overstaffed and others in
crisis. For promotion purposes candidates may bribe or otherwise influence promotion

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 committees. Despite the rigid academic hierarchy in universities, senior academics often
promote unqualified friends or colleagues to new positions.

2) Teacher misconduct- Motivated and efficient teachers are crucial for quality in teaching.
However, people in developing countries often complain of absent or abusive teachers and
their demands for illegal fees. The proceeds from such fees, as well as other favours
received as payment, are frequently for the private gain of educators. It is not uncommon
to find pupils exploited as unpaid labour, drunk teachers in schools, sexual and physical
abuse, or simply classes where no teaching is conducted at all.

3) Misuse of school property for private commercial purposes also constitutes corruption.

4) Corruption also occurs in the allocation of loans and scholarships.

Some more cases of corruption in education system are-

1) Some Indian Educational Institutes have started to get donation of 5 to 10 Lakh for giving the
seat in their institute. This is clear corruption in Indian Education System.

2) Some of private companies in Indian is doing the business of Entrance Test and earns crores of
hard money just for the name of Entrance Test. Educational Institutes have associated with them to
enjoy the money which they have earned through this corrupted way.

3) Some of Institute started to give 60% marks for internal assessment. It means you just copy and
paste the assignment of MBA notes and get the degree from these corrupted educational institutes.
No need to learn, no need to do hard work. No need to awake in nights for earning 40% marks
when you can earn 60% marks just by copy and past. This is one of bad and corrupted system in
India which are being adopted by educational institutions. Who will study when students can get
60% marks through copy and paste work?

4) Some of Indian Educational Institutions are totally fake and doing business without any
recognition. These educational institutions are eating crores of Rupees by providing zero education

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to students. After this education, no student can stand on his own feet.

5) Teacher absenteeism in India is among the highest in the world. They get government salary but
teach only in their tuition center for getting extra money.

6) Some of Educational Institutions have allowed students to give the certificates to other on the
rent like any other product. It means, if you have obtained a certificate after paying 25000 Rs. fees
and giving exams. After this, you can give it to other on the rent of Rs. 3000 per month, just like
giving any other property on the rent.

MEASURES TO CONTROL CORRUPTION IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM-

There are some basic principles that practitioners need to consider before designing anti-
corruption interventions in tandem with domestic counterparts. Sector-specific interventions have
limited effect if they are not embedded in broader, integrated reform efforts involving large parts
of the public sector.

Country dynamics and sector contexts must be kept in mind when formulating interventions. All
research, programme design and implementation should take place in close cooperation with
government counterparts. Otherwise the effects are unlikely to be sustainable. A clear view of the
government counterparts' mindset is important: to what degree do they respect the rule of law,
encourage transparency, act against violations, and exhibit integrity in their own transactions?

Accountability-

Accountable education systems rely on laws promoting transparency, a free press, and an active
civil society. Additionally, organisational structures and administrative procedures must be clear-
cut and built on principles of accountability and transparency.
Necessary factors for success include:

1) politically independent administrations

2) clear-cut management rules and procedures

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 3) clear standards and rules for merit-based teacher recruitment and promotion
4) clear criteria for student admissions and examinations
5) codes of conduct
6) systems for monitoring compliance with rules and applying punitive measures in case of
non-compliance
7) rules on conflicts of interest
8) autonomous examination agencies
9) involvement of parents, teachers, and civil society in planning and management
10) access to information
11) complaint mechanisms available for all interested parties (including rights for
whistleblowers)
12) internal and external control of accreditation boards for private institutions

Local stakeholdership-

The education sector will not reform itself, thus efforts to support local stakeholders in their
demands for accountability are important. This includes individuals who become targets of those
reluctant to forego entrenched and profitable power. Ownership must be built within the institution
to ensure the sustainability of reform projects. This entails involving all parties in the planning and
implementation stages. Whenever possible, projects should also have local leadership.

Education management information system-

An Education Management Information System can monitor performance and enhance quality by
countering the problem of inadequate information about activities in the education sector. It is
used in many countries, and its overall purpose is to improve accountability for public spending,
as well as understanding of school programmes and accomplishments. It provides information on
the needs of school districts, including student performance and participation indicators.

The introduction of EMIS provided an objective means of tracking and ranking teachers by
seniority, language skills, specialisation, and other relevant factors for appointment. The
information prevented appointments based on personal connections and other invalid grounds.

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Centralised university admission-

A state student admissions committee can be established following revelations of corruption in

university admissions. By supervising all national university entry examinations and admissions
the corruption can be reduced considerably.

Central vs. local administration-

Decentralisation is often mentioned as a means to improve accountability and governance in

education, making monitoring easier for local communities. However, this view is not supported
by empirical studies, and by decentralising the administration of funds you also risk decentralising
the opportunities for corruption. Any decentralisation should be matched by equivalent
downsizing of the administration at ministerial level, while ensuring sufficient staffing and
training at local levels.

Privatization and outsourcing-

Privatising and outsourcing services such as transport, maintenance, canteens, etc, can sometimes
prevent the negative price and quality effects of monopoly situations. However, this requires
sound regulation of procurement and privatisation, to avoid creating new opportunities for
corruption.

Codes of conduct-

Clear codes of conduct for school staff are needed to ensure certain standards for professional
ethics that are not directly covered by law. Codes must describe what constitutes corrupt practice,
especially when proper professional conduct differs from otherwise widely accepted social norms.
Gift giving may be appropriate outside the classroom, but not as a requisite for receiving
education.The effectiveness of codes depends on them being publicly known, respected at

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government and other top levels, and consistently enforced. Theft, misuse of funds and other
illegal acts carried out by staff must be consistently dealt with by the courts.

Involvement of parents and civil society-

An active citizenry which demands quality education and fair use of funds is crucial for the
sustainability of reforms. Through participation one can build the parents and students' sense of
ownership necessary for holding administrators accountable.Parent-teacher associations and
community groups can play a vital role in improving school management. Establishing complaint
channels and counselling facilities can help bolster student participation and confidence.
Suggestion boxes and anti-corruption committees are but a few possibilities.
CONCLUSION-
To conclude, I would like to say that educated youth is the foundation of a country. If the
foundation stone happens to be crooked, how can we build up a healthy nation? So, it is the duty
of the state to make its young generation educated, learned and morally reliable. The corruption
has viciously affected our every area of activity. One way to spare education from its clutches is to
uphold and implement the motto of ‘funding students and not the schools’.

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