Corruption and Basic Education

One can make comparisons between countries. With such exercise, one may find correlations. Here is one. Corruption and basic education seem to be strongly correlated. Countries where corruption is perceived to be low tend to have better educational systems.

Transparency International provides on an annual basis a Corruption Perception Index (CPI), a measure of the perceived level of public sector corruption for each country. The 2015 numbers are now available and the following lists the 40 least corrupt countries in the world.

Rank	CPI2015	Country
1	91	Denmark
2	90	Finland
3	89	Sweden
4	88	New Zealand
5	87	Netherlands
5	87	Norway
7	86	Switzerland
8	85	Singapore
9	83	Canada
10	81	Germany
10	81	Luxembourg
10	81	United Kingdom
13	79	Australia
13	79	Iceland
15	77	Belgium
16	76	Austria
16	76	The United States Of America
18	75	Hong Kong
18	75	Ireland
18	75	Japan
21	74	Uruguay
22	71	Qatar
23	70	Chile
23	70	Estonia
23	70	France
23	70	United Arab Emirates
27	65	Bhutan
28	63	Botswana
28	63	Portugal
30	62	Poland
30	62	Taiwan
32	61	Cyprus
32	61	Israel
32	61	Lithuania
35	60	Slovenia
36	58	Spain
37	56	Czech Republic
37	56	Korea (South)

37	56	Malta
40	55	Cape Verde
40	55	Costa Rica
40	55	Latvia
40	55	Seychelles

Above data from Transparency International

In the above table, there are countries listed in red, while a few are in black. Countries in red are those found in the top 40 in another ranking scheme. This other ranking comes from the World Economic Forum - Human Capital Report - 2015. The Human Capital Index measures both learning and employment outcomes. This index is therefore quite useful in gauging educational systems. The countries listed in red in the above table are those that rank high likewise in the Human Capital Index. This therefore shows a strong correlation between corruption and human capital. Less corrupt countries perform better in both learning and employment outcomes.

Using results from international standardized exams also provides a route for gauging educational systems around the globe. Scores from exams like PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS can be used with literacy and graduation rates. Countries shown in red in the following map rank high in terms of cognitive skills and educational attainment. One should be able to see that countries that are colored red in this map are likewise those countries that are perceived to be less corrupt. 

Above copied from The Learning Curve

Seeing this correlation makes one wonder if measures of educational outcomes can in fact serve as a measure for corruption since poor learning seems to be strongly associated with corrupt governments.  The Philippines stands poorly when it comes to international standardized exams. Does it follow that the Philippine government is more corrupt than other governments? In the latest CPI, the Philippines does not compare favorably with some of its closest neighbors in Southeast Asia:

30	62	Taiwan
54	50	Malaysia
76	38	Thailand
88	36	Indonesia
95	35	Philippines

The correlation between corruption and a poor educational system should not be a surprise for one reason. Education requires resources. And when the government is corrupt, these much needed resources do not reach the schools. These do not reach the students and teachers who are in greater need. In the Philippines, where pork abounds, legislators seem to dictate their whims on when and where classrooms are going to be built. There appears to be no mechanism by which needs are taken into account so that resources can be channeled to where these are most needed. Decisions therefore appear to be made solely on political patronage. There is likewise corruption that is simply stealing public funds. Of course, this practice reduces how much is available to support public education.

With such a strong correlation between corruption and basic education, one can actually gauge how good a government is by simply looking at how classrooms are performing.