Study on the Extent and Costs of Corruption in the Education Sector in Uganda

Fazekas, Mihály; Adam, Isabelle; Nikulina, Olena; Dina Balabanova; Dávid-Barrett, Elizabeth; Hutchinson, Eleanor; Kirya, Monica; and Peiffer, Caryn (2021) Study on the Extent and Costs of Corruption in the Education Sector in Uganda. Inspectorate of Government, Uganda, Kampala.

The overall objective of the study is to generate empirical data on the cost and extent of corruption in the Education Sector Uganda that can be used for dialogue with stakeholders to inform anti-corruption policy formulation, strategies, and programs in the sector. The baseline study shall provide a basis to understand and measure if an enhanced focus to curb corruption in the Education sector will have a positive impact over an extended period. The study will help to identify why citizens pay bribes to get services, but also why the workers and staff in the Education sector asks for bribes. This report provides a detailed overview of the extent and costs of corruption in the education sector in Uganda. The study covers costs occurring due to various types of corruption in the sector, such as bribery, absenteeism, corruption in public procurement. Along with that, the study offers estimates of corruption costs for different groups of cost bearers – users of education services (families with children of school age), public budget, and society at large. The cost of corruption estimates are based on a variety of methods and data sources: a household survey and qualitative data gathered through in-depth interviews with experts and practitioners in the sector, as well government administrative data, secondary survey data, and the topical literature. Overall, our estimates should be considered as a lower bound estimate of the true cost of corruption given that some costs are in-kind while others are non-measurable due to lack of data.

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