Sigma Technology, along with several other prominent businesses in Hungary, sponsored the launch of Transparency International’s Global Corruption Report 2013 yesterday. The report contains the findings of more than 70 experts from 50 countries.
The study found that over the past year, almost one in five people resorted to bribery in the education sector. The study highlights the patterns of corruption in the field of education such as embezzlement of national education funds, hidden school costs, or the buying and selling of fake degrees. The report shows that in all cases corruption undermines the access to high-quality learning and social and economic development, jeopardises the academic credibility and legitimacy of universities, and may even lead to the reputational collapse of a country’s entire higher education system.
“It would be important to create transparency of the financial processes of education funds and strengthen the access to data”, said Gareth Sweeney, a senior fellow at the TI centre of Berlin, chief editor of the report at the launch event in Budapest. According to TI’s recommendations, a code of ethics developed for teachers can also contribute to a more transparent education. The entire educational system shall function in an accountable way. It is important to educate students against corruption, they must be taught as early as possible what is right, and why they should say no to corruption. Access to information and transparent supervision systems for the education sector shall all contribute to every cent that we intend to spend on the education of our children to be eventually spent where it is needed; that such funds are used for schools to be built, higher salaries for teachers, and access for everyone to textbooks.
For more information, see Transparency International Hungary.
