Corruption in Higher Education
The previous researches of corruption argue that
corruption leads to the destabilization of financial balance, promotes
inequality, reduces economic development of a state and undermines the
authority of ruling government
(World Bank, 2000). Higher education from the basis is more than suitable for
the flourishes of corruption. The reasons for that is a considerable number of
gatekeepers, who are responsible for making important decisions. “Within the
university context, individual instructors, student services personnel, and
administrators each make decisions that can have important consequences for
both students and colleagues” (Chapman & Lindner, 2014). From the admission
level to the graduation a student passes a long way of people who decide his
academic life at an educational institution. Furthermore, it is really hard to
control the fairness of these gatekeepers, because most of the important
decisions are made without third persons. “Many daily administrative decisions
by senior officials may be largely invisible to the instructional staff or
students” (Chapman & Lindner, 2014).
When it comes to Kazakhstani higher education, despite
strong governmental policy the situation is still relatively poor. According to
the survey, the third of representatives do not believe in effectiveness of the
measures done to reduce corruption in Kazakhstan (tengrinews.kz). The reasons
for that people see in the unfairness of corruption control comity itself and
the mentality of Kazakhstani citizens. The research done by the Zhasotan in
October 2014 (tengrinews.kz) shows, that the main reasons of corruption in
Kazakhstani universities are 1) lack
of interest in study among students (20% of respondents); 2) lack of control
(18.3%); 3) low incomes of teaching stuff (17.3%); 4) law level of
professionalism (12.6%).
The main risk of corruption in higher education, I
believe, is the message that it sent to the population. People start to believe
that getting higher education is possible without knowledge, skills and hard
work but only with money. “Widespread petty corruption breaks the link between
personal effort and anticipation of reward” (Chapman, 2005, as cited Chapman
& Lindner, 2014), which can lead to serious problems not only in economic
situation of a state, but also in basic social and moral principle of people.
References:
Chapman, D. W., & Lindner, S.
(2014). Degrees of integrity: the threat of corruption in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, (ahead-of-print),1-22.
DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2014.927854
World Bank (2000). Anticorruption in Transition: A
Contribution to the Policy Debate. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Thank you Shynar,
ReplyDeleteyou raised very painful issue. I also share the opinion that corruption exist and increasing in Kazakhstan in every level and aspect of our lives because of citizens' mentality. Many years we were taught how to survive and adjust ourselves to different and difficult environment, e.i. thinking about own interests. Then the nomad origin also adds point to our mentality and made us being selfish and serving only our own personal needs. That is why the issue should be considered mostly from psychological and behavioral point of view.
Dear Shynar, thank you for posting this very hot topic in our country. I believe that we may eliminate corruption if we will start from ourselves. If we will not pay for medical certificates or 'spravka', not pay for the marks, not pay for the job position and etc, we may eventually eliminate this negative trend in society. We are as teachers and future practitioners should openly talk about these issues and punish/report those people, who by destroying the image of our country, take active participation in the corruption .
ReplyDeleteDear Shynar,
ReplyDeleteThank you for shedding the light on such important issue. It is not a secret that corruption is widespread on all educational levels in Kazakhstan. Unfortunately, it seems to me that in order to fully combat corruption, we should change not only the system, but also our mentality. People who get used to corruption will always loooking for "easy ways". And I think we cannot only blame those who accept and offer, but also people who know abou these kinds of activities, but remain silent and don't bring any actions to stop it. In the context of higher education institutions, top administration should adhere the policy of "cristal clean hands" and strictly punish violators.