Fighting corruption in education sector an uphill battle

VietNamNet Bridge – Fighting corruption in education was a significant task, the Vice Inspector of the Ministry of Education and Training, Pham Van Tai, said yesterday, Oct 13.

According to research based on media coverage of corruption by the United Nations Development Programme in 2008, corruption in education was still a big problem.
Marie Ottosson, a senior official from the Swedish Embassy, said two studies showed that education and training were the largest items on the State budget (15 to 20 per cent), but weak accounting and monitoring systems provided opportunities for corruption.

"Corruption in education is a threat to sustainable development and the well being and future of Viet Nam because it creates distrust in the education system," she said.

Tai said most opportunities for corruption emerged during admission at every education level, extra teaching and learning activities and the "over collection of fees".

Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Nghia said most teachers still lived in difficult conditions due to limited incomes and did not feel secure without doing extra teaching.

Tai said other reasons included a patchy legal framework, shortage of integrated policies and the absence of monitoring systems.

"Extra teaching and learning malpractices are widely seen, especially in cities, towns and lowland provinces," he said. "Some teachers even move some parts of the school curriculum to their private teaching classes to force students to attend extra classes for private gains."

Festival timetable

- About 60 per cent of parents ask for support for their children’s admission to better schools and 33 per cent of teachers admit helping their acquaintances children to get enrolled in them. - As many as 70 per cent of parents believe that paying extra fees to help their children study at a good school is normal because their acquaintances do the same. - About 50 per cent of parents think that paying extra fees to be admitted to better schools is reasonable. - From 80 to 85 per cent of parents believe regular teaching at school is not sufficient and that their children need other pathways.

A survey titled "Present Corruption in Education" in Ha Noi, HCM City and Da Nang during May suggested that many parents themselves were actually willing to compromise with these malpractices.
Nguyen Van Thang, director of T&C Consulting, which ran the survey with the Government Inspectorate, said the acceptance of parents towards distorted behaviour was a non-stop social activity. Thang said many parents had a perception that standard schools and extra learning would help children get a better education. He said corruption generally involved small amounts of money but the social impact was severe as it posed psychological and time burdens for families.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga, an education specialist from United Nations Children’s Fund Viet Nam, said the key measure would be to change the perception of parents. He agreed that the ministry’s inspection activities should be formalised and conducted on a regular basis.

Sweden’s Ottosson called for more oversight and awareness from society and the media to combat corruption.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News