KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Erkaim Mambetalieva, Candidate of Political Science Corruption in Higher Education: Sources, Scale and Solutions Corruption has become a global problem. It poses a serious threat to social stability and security and undermines democratic institutions and values, ethical values and the rule of justice, as well as damaging sustainable development and law and order. In Kyrgyzstan, corruption is one of the most urgent issues because it hinders the solution of most of the crucial economic and political tasks. It also tarnishes the reputation of authorities among citizens, and leads to social degradation by blemishing the image of our country in the modern world. According to the Information for Democracy Foundation (INDEM), the spread of corruption in the former Soviet countries has reached a major scale in a short period [12]. A number of financial, political and moral consequences of corruption, which have grown rampantly in our country in recent decades, has become intolerably obvious and dangerous for our political system and further development. As a result, the need for strengthening anticorruption measures and increasing their efficiency is not only a legal issue, but it is also one of the most pressing political issues. This situation is aggravated by the fact that corruption has also pervaded the system of higher education, jeopardizing all areas of human activities in the future. Corruption in Higher Education Corruption has permeated all areas of public life, which makes it more difficult to counteract this phenomenon. One area where corruption wreaks havoc is education. Corruption cases in higher education facilities are well represented in the mind of the public. Although such cases are extensively covered in the media, there are no accurate data about the scale of bribe-taking in universities. As revealed by sociological surveys of university students in Bishkek and Osh, most respondents had been involved in corrupt deals with their instructors. According to some estimates, education today is number three on the list of most corrupt areas of social life. Corruption in this field is a particularly grave, complex and multi-layer issue, which touches upon the educational component and university management 1 . 1 Sociological research on Impact of corruption on business activities conducted at the behest of the Kyrgyz National Agency on Corruption Prevention and Business Association Congress, supported by GTZ (Bishkek, 2006). 152
Many factors contribute to this corruption. As a country in transition, Kyrgyzstan developed additional conditions that foster multi-layer corruption in higher education. As the state reduced its financial support of educational institutions, the latter were forced to look for their own sources, which was conducive to various types of corruption in universities. Facing these new conditions, many higher-education facilities started looking for money from sources other than their budget, which was most effectively realized through introducing popular new study programs and charging tuition. However, the commercial overtone in public education, or the so-called contract-based study, failed to ensure a desirable quality of education. Not only did the rapidlyincreasing scale of contract-based study lead to a deterioration in quality, but it also resulted in uncontrolled financial management. The pursuit of profit nurtured even greater corruption. The reduction in state financing during the transition period increased the number of channels through which high-skilled professionals left universities. As a result, corruption was a way to preserve the faculty of higher education facilities, and not let it disappear completely. However, as the faculty situation became somewhat stable, two negative factors came into play. First and foremost, given the high rate of corruption in higher education facilities and cases of bribes determining enrollment, taking examinations and receiving diplomas not based on personal merit, universities become places of corruptionrelated socialization. Young graduates get comfortable with the idea that corruption is an appropriate and convenient tool for solving problems, and also a way to enrich themselves. Secondly, as corruption remains active, grows and takes root in the system, it may lead to the establishment of organized corruption networks. By developing a market of corruption-oriented services, such networks tend to negate the profile activities of higher education institutions, which are professional socialization, and the selection and advancement of the most skillful, talented students. More often than not, those who can pay have more opportunities to enter a university than others who deserve it more. This may have disastrous long-term consequences, such as de-intellectualization and deprofessionalization of the nation. The most important source of administrative corruption in higher education facilities is the lack of transparency in both managerial decision-making and in budgetrelated issues. Students who contribute most to the budget in their universities have no access to the information about many activity areas of their educational facilities. The faculty, too, has restrictions in participating in the management, including financial management. Surprisingly, since the tuition paid by students is quite high, instructors are still paid low salaries, and universities are poorly equipped and furnished. This, of course, affects the quality of education. Another concern is that students remain loyal to corruption, since they are directly involved in various illicit activities. The economic causes of corruption in universities are considered some of the most important. At the same time, low salaries among the faculty encourage a poor-quality education. Many experts conclude that, if subjects are taught properly, it is due to professionalism and the personal initiatives of the faculty. The existing system does not provide any incentives for high-quality education. The system of education is a marketplace. Often, young people buy their seats on university benches, and then buy working places upon graduation. It is another source of corruption, referred to as “staff corruption.” The higher education system should 153
Page 1 and 2:
Social Research Center American Uni
Page 3 and 4:
The Social Research Center (SRC) at
Page 5 and 6:
What needs to be studied is whether
Page 7 and 8:
policy, but on the politics of loya
Page 9 and 10:
them set up with the sole aim of ac
Page 11 and 12:
has been made. As democratization i
Page 13 and 14:
For a country where the main active
Page 15 and 16:
seemingly happen to form regionally
Page 17 and 18:
• Support the development of self
Page 19 and 20:
synonymous with civil society. Thes
Page 21 and 22:
and to the fact that it is popularl
Page 23 and 24:
in a politically-advanced society w
Page 25 and 26:
Galina Plakhotnikova, Aida Kurbanov
Page 27 and 28:
For such individuals, personal sati
Page 29 and 30:
to focus on donors’ priorities, w
Page 31 and 32:
Sheradil Baktygulov, Independent Ex
Page 33 and 34:
By having good knowledge and unders
Page 35 and 36:
In this context, the Kyrgyz state v
Page 37 and 38:
6. Produce a training program for g
Page 39 and 40:
among decision-makers and in genera
Page 41 and 42:
200. This means that about USD 20 m
Page 43 and 44:
New Middle Classes Classes are anta
Page 45 and 46:
References and Sources 1. Bates R.
Page 47 and 48:
There were attempts to build the pa
Page 49 and 50:
Kyrgyzstan, they did not have a cle
Page 51 and 52:
impossible. Even though the Moldova
Page 53 and 54:
Summing up, it should be emphasized
Page 55 and 56:
24. Romedi Arkvint’s Speech//Kiev
Page 57 and 58:
- national programs and projects; -
Page 59 and 60:
awareness of implementation of thes
Page 61 and 62:
also tried to participate in develo
Page 63 and 64:
and its regional programs, to devel
Page 65 and 66:
development in both urban and rural
Page 67 and 68:
the participants of public hearings
Page 69 and 70:
Social Development as the spokesper
Page 71 and 72:
Nookatbek Idrisov, Director of the
Page 73 and 74:
membership fees, donations, grants)
Page 75 and 76:
and (2) the Law on Charity doesn’
Page 77 and 78:
6. To change numbering of items in
Page 79 and 80:
its founders, members, participants
Page 81 and 82:
and property at its balance-sheet v
Page 83 and 84:
Kanykey Jailobaeva, PhD Candidate a
Page 85 and 86:
NGOs to involve the government and
Page 87 and 88:
over the implementation of its init
Page 89 and 90:
His advice on the legislative basis
Page 91 and 92:
presence of those major elements of
Page 93 and 94:
arises; this problem is now apparen
Page 95 and 96:
not a decision-maker, but rather
Page 97 and 98:
Some believe and argue that Kyrgyz
Page 99 and 100:
Central and Eastern European and Ba
Page 101 and 102: the vocational-education system sho
Page 103 and 104: force and its profile, since all th
Page 105 and 106: is employed in jobs that do not req
Page 107 and 108: educational institutions elaborate
Page 109 and 110: naturally expect to return to their
Page 111 and 112: emittances for granted at the backb
Page 113 and 114: Global Donor Platform for Rural Dev
Page 115 and 116: marginalized communities, do not li
Page 117 and 118: Simplifying the process of getting
Page 119 and 120: Nurdin Tynaev, Director of the Publ
Page 121 and 122: Federation”, which requires migra
Page 123 and 124: Recommendations • Improve the imm
Page 125 and 126: In Kyrgyzstan, there are the Spirit
Page 127 and 128: Following are some examples of mode
Page 129 and 130: Timur Kozukulov, Senior lecturer, r
Page 131 and 132: 2. These problems are also typical
Page 133 and 134: Shakhnoza Madaeva, Candidate of phi
Page 135 and 136: women). About 50 percent of student
Page 137 and 138: 3. International institutions and i
Page 139 and 140: present this image of woman as an i
Page 141 and 142: you from a single person created of
Page 143 and 144: standpoint of such an approach, one
Page 145 and 146: Types and scale of judicial corrupt
Page 147 and 148: The evidence demonstrates that the
Page 149 and 150: other indirect features of judicial
Page 151: albeit very unlikely. However, many
Page 155 and 156: also collapsed, and the academic co
Page 157 and 158: To university students: 1. To chang
Page 159 and 160: protectionism, unfair competition,
Page 161 and 162: authority to levy tax backlogs with
Page 163 and 164: Kubanychbek Omuraliev, Independent
Page 165 and 166: On the subject of barriers, it is a
Page 167 and 168: and other similar is ten times grea
Page 169 and 170: participation in economic activitie
Page 171 and 172: • adopt laws that recognize and p
Page 173 and 174: Emil Nasritdinov. Discrimination of
show all

KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?