This document discusses methods for measuring corruption in education systems, specifically in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It summarizes quantitative survey techniques including Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS) to identify leakages in education funding, Quantitative Service Delivery Surveys (QSDS) to examine efficiency and quality of service delivery, and report cards to gather user perceptions of education quality and accountability. The document advocates combining these different survey methods and data sources like household surveys and tests to get a comprehensive diagnosis of education systems and identify areas vulnerable to corruption.

1. Regional Conference:
‘Fighting Corruption in Education
in Eastern Europe and Central Asia’
Bratislava, 24‐25 November 2011
Measuring corruption: the
potentials of quantitative surveys
Jacques Hallak and Muriel Poisson
© IIEP‐UNESCO
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Monitoring corrupt practices
Combining different approaches :
Objective: public expenditure tracking surveys
(PETS) and quantitative service delivery surveys
(QSDS)
Subjective: perception of service delivery (report
cards)
)
Hallak & Poisson © IIEP‐UNESCO
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2. 3
Fact finding versus perception
I. Fact finding
Objective data (MoE/
Institutions) • Organizational (management,
central & local level)
PETS • Human resources (‘ghost’ teachers,
absenteeism, recruitment)
II. ‘Perception’ • Financing (financial statements of
an activity/entity, budget, fund
Subjective data
raising)
(Teachers/Student)
(T h /S d )
• Procurement (tendering)
Participatory
assessment
Hallak & Poisson © IIEP‐UNESCO
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1. Definition of Public Expenditure
Tracking Surveys (PETS)
Objective:
j
To locate and measure leakages and identify causes to
propose remedies
Initiated in Uganda in 1996
Since then, several dozens of PETS implemented
worldwide: Albania, Cambodia, Ghana, Macedonia,
Mongolia, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Tanzania,
Zambia, etc.
Hallak & Poisson © IIEP‐UNESCO
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3. 5
PETS: leakage of non‐wage funds
PETS: leakage of non‐
Country Year Fund Sample Leakage
Peru 2001 Utilities 100 30 %
Vietnam 2005 Non wage 4 prov. 13‐19%
Zambia 2001 Discr. grt 182 76 %
Source: World Bank.
Hallak & Poisson © IIEP‐UNESCO
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2. Definition of Quantitative
2. Definition of Quantitative
Service Delivery Surveys (QSDS)
Objectives:
To examine the efficiency of public spending in education;
e.g. availability of textbooks per pupil in the classroom
To analyze the various dimensions of service delivery on
the frontline (schools); e.g. number of teaching hours per
week
Implemented in Bangladesh, Ecuador, India, Indonesia,
Peru, etc., often in combination with a PETS
Hallak & Poisson © IIEP‐UNESCO
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4. 7
QSDS: correlation of teacher
absenteeism in 5 countries 1
Nber of countries
Corr. + Corr. ‐
Age 2 0
Salaries Education level 2 0
School director 2 0
Supervision 0 3
Control and discipline
Involvment in PTA 1 2
Infrastructure quality 1 4
Working conditions Isolation 1 1
Multigrade classes 1 1
Local recruitment 0 0
Intrinsic motivation Tenure 0 0
Continuous training 1 1
Contractual status Teacher contract 2 0
(sur 4)
1 Bangladesh, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Peru
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3. Definition of report cards
Objectives:
To provide quantitative feedback on user
perceptions and knowledge on the quality,
adequacy and efficiency of public services
To exact public accountability through the
extensive media coverage and civil society
advocacy that accompanies the process
Implemented in countries worldwide
(Latin America, USA, Bangladesh, etc.)
Hallak & Poisson © IIEP‐UNESCO
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5. Report card: comparative study 9
by PREAL
Hallak & Poisson © IIEP‐UNESCO
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4. Key issues: Who can do it?
Roles of MOE officials and of entities in charge of
data collection
Universities, research centres?
National institute of statistics?
NGOs?
Local or international consultants?
Capacity building objectives?
Who does the analysis?
Hallak & Poisson © IIEP‐UNESCO
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6. 11
Conclusion
To get a reliable diagnosis of supply, need to combine
different types of surveys:
• PETS
• QSDS
• Report cards
• Perception surveys
• Others
Need to combine the results of various surveys
y
(households, tests, etc.)
Hallak & Poisson © IIEP‐UNESCO
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