Strengthening Integrity and Fighting Corruption in Education Strengthening Integrity SErbIa Education matters. It is a gateway to prosperity of individuals and economies alike. and Fighting Corruption Integrity in education matters too. Corruption hinders prosperity, causes long-term damage to societies, and diminishes the efficiency of investment in their human potential. in Education This first of its kind integrity report seeks to give pragmatic answers to the Republic of Serbia’s queries regarding its education system and to support authorities and stakeholders in taking informed decisions on SErbIa how to strengthen integrity and prevent corruption in the sector. It uses a novel methodology for assessing the integrity of education systems (INTES) to identify the underlying causes of malpractice and point out areas in need of attention. Contents Chapter 1. Overview Chapter 2. Fair Access to Education Chapter 3 Better Quality of Education S t r Chapter 4. Staff Policies and Management of Resources e n g Chapter 5. Capacity For Prevention and Detection t h Chapter 6. Recommendations and Follow-Up e n in g In t e g r it y a n d F ig h t in g C o r r u p t io n in E d u c a t io Please cite this publication as: n OECD (2012), Strengthening Integrity and Fighting Corruption in Education: Serbia, OECD Publishing. S E http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264179646-en r b This work is published on the OECD iLibrary, which gathers all OECD books, periodicals and statistical databases. Ia Visit www.oecd-ilibrary.org, and do not hesitate to contact us for more information. ISbn 978-92-64-17963-9 -:HSTCQE=V\^[X^: 91 2012 18 1 P 912012181.indd 1 12-Sep-2012 10:41:45 AM Strengthening Integrity and Fighting Corruption in Education SERBIA This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its member countries. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Please cite this publication as: OECD (2012), Strengthening Integrity and Fighting Corruption in Education: Serbia, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264179646-en ISBN 978-92-64-17963-9 (print) ISBN 978-92-64-17964-6 (PDF) The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law. Photo credits: Cover © Shutterstock/iofoto. Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found on line at: www.oecd.org/publishing/corrigenda. Revised PDF version September 2012. Details of revisions available at: http://www.oecd.org/about/publishing/Strengthening_Integrity_Serbia.pdf © OECD 2012 You can copy, download or print OECD content for your own use, and you can include excerpts from OECD publications, databases and multimedia products in your own documents, presentations, blogs, websites and teaching materials, provided that suitable acknowledgement of OECD as source and copyright owner is given. All requests for public or commercial use and translation rights should be submitted to [email protected]. Requests for permission to photocopy portions of this material for public or commercial use shall be addressed directly to the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at [email protected] or the Centre français d’exploitation du droit de copie (CFC) at [email protected]. TITLE Foreword Education matters. Integrity in education matters too – corrupt schools and universities hinder prosperity, cause long-term damage to societies and raise the cost of education at the expense of equity and quality. Following discussions on the issue, the members of the Steering Group of the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia requested the OECD to elaborate an evidence-based approach for targeting and eradicating corruption in their education systems. In response, the Directorate for Education developed the Integrity of Education Systems (INTES) methodology – a novel approach to preventing corruption and strengthening integrity in education. The Republic of Serbia is the first country to request an integrity assessment of its education system. This publication outlines the assessment findings and formulates recommendations for the way forward. The report is a first step towards a broader body of work on the topic which aims to produce a reliable map of the origins of corruption in education, identify effective ways to address them and quantify risk and corruption incidence. The objective is to also raise awareness about the destructive consequences of malpractice and the urgent need to prevent it. The INTES methodology was developed within the Programme for Co-operation with Non-member Economies of the OECD Directorate for Education by Mihaylo Milovanovitch, in co-operation with Simone Bloem and under the overall supervision of the Head of the Programme, Ian Whitman. The work was carried out in consultation with the Anti-Corruption Division of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs and the Public Sector Integrity division of the OECD Directorate for Governance, in partnership with the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning and the United Nations Development Programme – Regional Office for Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Members of the review team and authors of the report were: Mihaylo Milovanovitch (OECD), assessment team leader; Simone Bloem (OECD), Analyst; Francesco Checchi (UNDP), Anti-Corruption Specialist, Eastern Europe and the CIS; Vera Devine (UK), Senior Anti-Corruption Specialist, Eastern Europe and the CIS; Valts Kalnins (Latvia), Senior Researcher at the Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS; Séamus McGuinness (Ireland), Educational Consultant and former Senior Lecturer, School of Education, Trinity College, Dublin; Muriel Poisson (UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning), Task Manager of the IIEP’s project on Ethics and Corruption in Education; Eluned Roberts-Schweitzer (United States), Educator and Consultant in International Education; Ian Whitman (OECD), Head of Programme for Co-operation with Non-member Economies. This OECD assessment was financed by the Open Society Foundation’s Education Support Programme and was carried out in partnership with the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning and the UNDP Regional Centre for Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Barbara Ischinger Director for Education OECD 3 STRENGTHENING INTEGRITY AND FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN EDUCATION: SERBIA © OECD 2012 Acknowledgements The report and the development of the methodology have benefited greatly from the critical remarks, comments and suggestions of experts from DAF/ACD (Tanya Khavanska, Olga Savran), GOV/PSI (Paloma Baena Olabe, Janos  Bertok), DAF/SIGMA (Francisco Cardona), EDU/ECS (Michael Davidson, Guillermo Montt), as well as of Andreas Schleicher (Deputy-Director, EDU) and Ian Whitman (Head of Programme, EDU). Simon Schwarzman (Brazil), Gregory Wurzburg (United States), Alessandra Fontana (U4/ Michelsen Institute), Jacques Hallak (France) and Jamil Salmi (World Bank) provided invaluable feedback at various stages of this work. The INTES team wishes to also thank the education authorities of Serbia for the excellent and efficient co-operation, as well as Ivana Ceneric (Serbia) for the logistical and substantive support throughout the integrity assessment process. Anne-Lise Prigent, Jill Gaston and Célia Braga-Schich from the OECD Secretariat, and Johanna Crighton (United Kingdom) provided editorial guidance and support for the production of this publication. The layout was prepared by Peter Vogelpoel, and Deborah Fernandez and Célia Braga-Schich provided overall administrative support. 5 STRENGTHENING INTEGRITY AND FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN EDUCATION: SERBIA © OECD 2012 Table of contents ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................................................................ 11 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................................... 13 INTES AND REPORT RATIONALE: LINKING INTEGRITY, OUTCOMES AND CORRUPTION .................................................. 17 Background ........................................................................................................................................................................... 17 Assessment methodology .................................................................................................................................................... 18 About this report ................................................................................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW .......................................................................................................................................................... 23 Serbian education and its integrity context ........................................................................................................................ 24 • The education system .................................................................................................................................................... 24 • Reform impetus ............................................................................................................................................................. 24 • The general integrity climate .......................................................................................................................................... 26 • Existing evidence on corruption in Serbian education .................................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER 2 FAIR ACCESS TO EDUCATION ........................................................................................................................... 31 Area of integrity concern #1: access and success in higher education ............................................................................. 32 • Factors driving demand .................................................................................................................................................. 32 • Factors creating opportunity .......................................................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 3 BETTER QUALITY OF EDUCATION .................................................................................................................... 41 Area of integrity concern #2: quality of teaching and learning in school ......................................................................... 42 • Factors driving demand .................................................................................................................................................. 42 • Factors creating opportunity .......................................................................................................................................... 50 CHAPTER 4 STAFF POLICIES AND MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES .................................................................................... 53 Area of integrity concern #3: school management and operation: revenues .................................................................. 54 • Factors driving demand .................................................................................................................................................. 54 • Factors creating opportunity .......................................................................................................................................... 58 Area of integrity concern #4: hiring and firing of staff ....................................................................................................... 60 • Salary, career structure and attractiveness of the profession............................................................................................ 60 • Entering the profession: staff selection and appointment ................................................................................................. 62 • Keeping the job: redundant teachers .............................................................................................................................. 62 • The school leadership: (re-)appointment of principals ..................................................................................................... 63 CHAPTER 5 CAPACITY FOR PREVENTION AND DETECTION .............................................................................................. 67 Prevention and detection capacity in the education sector .............................................................................................. 68 • Data and information ..................................................................................................................................................... 68 • Transparency of budget formulation ............................................................................................................................... 71 • Public procurement and textbooks ................................................................................................................................. 71 • Accountability of higher education institutions ............................................................................................................... 73 • Integrity of standard-setting and quality assurance bodies .............................................................................................. 74 • Codes of professional conduct ....................................................................................................................................... 76 • Stakeholder engagement in the governance of education institutions .............................................................................. 76 7 STRENGTHENING INTEGRITY AND FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN EDUCATION: SERBIA © OECD 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS National anti-corruption framework: how fit is it for the education sector? .................................................................... 77 • Criminalisation of corruption in education ..................................................................................................................... 77 • Detection and prevention: specialised bodies and mechanisms ...................................................................................... 78 CHAPTER 6 RECOMMENDATIONS AND FOLLOW-UP ......................................................................................................... 87 Addressing demand for fairer access to education (Chapter 2) ......................................................................................... 88 • Access to higher education ............................................................................................................................................ 88 • Access to financial support ............................................................................................................................................ 88 • Assessment and academic standards .............................................................................................................................. 88 Addressing demand for better quality of education (Chapter 3) ....................................................................................... 88 • Curriculum and learning time ......................................................................................................................................... 88 • Quality of teaching ........................................................................................................................................................ 89 • Private tutoring .............................................................................................................................................................. 89 • School inspections ......................................................................................................................................................... 90 Addressing demand for better management and staff policies (Chapter 4) ..................................................................... 90 • School management and operation ................................................................................................................................ 90 • Staff policies .................................................................................................................................................................. 91 Closing opportunity gaps: strengthening prevention and detection capacity (Chapter 5) ............................................. 91 • Data and transparency ................................................................................................................................................... 91 • Textbooks ...................................................................................................................................................................... 92 • Higher education accountability .................................................................................................................................... 92 • Integrity of standard-setting bodies................................................................................................................................. 92 • Codes of professional conduct ....................................................................................................................................... 93 • Stakeholder engagement in the governance of education institutions .............................................................................. 93 • National anti-corruption framework ............................................................................................................................... 93 Next steps .............................................................................................................................................................................. 94 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................................ 95 ANNEX A SUMMARY OF MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A FOLLOW-UP ...................................................................... 97 ANNEX B FOLLOW-UP MEASURES OF THE SERBIAN AUTHORITIES UNDERTAKEN AFTER THE INTES ASSESSMENT ...... 101 ANNEX C P RELIMINARY INTEGRITY SCAN (PRINTS) OF THE SERBIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM: APPROACH AND RESULTS ................................................................................................................................................................. 105 PRINTS: quantitative section (QNS) ................................................................................................................................... 106 • Interpretation limits ........................................................................................................................................................ 106 • The OECD average ........................................................................................................................................................ 106 • The PRINTS method ...................................................................................................................................................... 106 • Pilot selection and application of indicators for PRINTS ................................................................................................. 108 PRINTS: qualitative section (QLS) ....................................................................................................................................... 112 • PRINTS QLS Level I – System level demand analysis ...................................................................................................... 113 • PRINTS QLS Level II – Prevention and detection framework .......................................................................................... 114 • PRINTS QLS: INTES Data and information grid with responses from the Serbian authorities ........................................... 115 ANNEX D INDICATORS ON PRIVATE TUTORING IN EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES ..................................................... 135 8 © OECD 2012 STRENGTHENING INTEGRITY AND FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN EDUCATION: SERBIA