Strategies for Eliminating Corruption in Engineering Education and Fostering Excellence in Human Capital Development Thanikachalam Vedhathiri Former Professor, Center for International Affairs, National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chennai vthani2025@yahoo.in Abstract A literature survey indicates that almost all the countries have been affected by ever growing corruption in higher education, but most of the countries, UNDP, UNESCO and World Bank have started developing methods to eliminate corruption in higher education. The mother of all corruptions is not solved by them. This centers around the selection of CEOs like principals, deans, directors, provosts, presidents, and vice-chancellors. Many court decisions prove that unethical CEOs were selected and later only a few were dismissed through the courts. Hence, this research focuses on the selection of CEOs, elimination of corruptions in the implementation of externally funded projects, corruptions in the spending the fellowship grants, arresting the corruptions in civil works, and stopping the corruption in the conduct of final examinations under autonomy. The five case studies were presented to the senior faculty members who attended the workshops in educational administration, leadership development, internal revenue generation, and human resource management. The Quality Circles were formed with the senior faculty members. Each Quality Circle has consisted of eight members. Around 720 members were involved in the Quality Circles. After attending the program for two days, the cases were introduced. Members were selected at random. The QC members analyzed the cases based on the questions raised to solve them and suggest appropriate solutions for all cases. They provided methodology to rank order the qualifications, achievements, vision, goals, transformation processes suggested and rank order the overall performances. They recommended the best candidate to the CEO’s appointment. In all other cases, they recommended the authorities to follow the rules and regulations without any deviations. Once the best candidate is appointed, the subsequent problems could be solved without any deviation.
Keywords: Corruption in higher education, loss due to corruption, identification of mother of all corruption, methodology to select the outstanding candidate for CEOs post. Introduction Education is a fundamental human right and a major driver for an economic development. It strengthens personal integrity and shapes the society in which we live (Transparency International). Since, education typically comprises 20-30% country’s budget, it is critically prone to corruption. Corruption in higher education is nothing new, probably existing, since, the first college opened its doors (Aisha Labi, 2013). Ararat Osipian (2008) has stated that corruption in higher education is a newly emerging topic in the field of education research. Rigorous systematic research is required. According to him some forms of corruption are region specific while others are universal; types of corruption are connected to the characteristics of the natural systems; the general trend in the media attention in now paid to fraud, plagiarism and cheating. Corruptions in engineering education are planneddeviations from ideals, norms and standards which are parts of core business in engineering education. Reputation and ethics are far more becoming important to engineering colleges and technical universities. Hardly any day goes by without an article on corruption in admission, examination, grading or appointment in the colleges or universities. It is institutionalized in almost all countries. According to Global Corruption Report “Education reveals that corruption for resources, fame and notoriety place extraordinary pressures on higher education institutions. In some instances, corruption has invaded whole system of higher education and threatens the reputation of research outputs and graduates, regardless of their guilt and innocence. Educational corruption appears to be rampant in
Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and Russian Federation. In May 2015, South African authorities shut down 42 bogus colleges and universities that were offering degrees in 15 days. They are termed as “degree mills” (Osipian Ararat, 2008). In many African countries frequent corruption occurs in recruitments, promotions, falsified research for publications, fake journals obligating students to buy text books written by the faculty. Some faculty members indulge in extortion of money for marks and sexual harassment. Sizable percentage of students plagiarize, fabrication of references, collude in examinations communicate answers. Some impersonate examinees. Many private universities setup branch campuses in various developing countries and admit students without adequate qualified faculty members. In many developing countries the sale of fake degree certificates has been deducted. Corruption not only hurts the students, but also undermines the educational quality. It provides inequitable access to careers. If the reputation of the university once lost, it can’t be retrieved for many decades. In this research the process of corruption that occurs in many engineering colleges and technical institutions is focused and remedial measures are analyzed. Vanessa Valentino (2007) lists methods of managing corruption in Moldova. According to her, the Ministry of Education and Youth (MET) in Moldova became more active in addressing academic corruption. An action plan to prevent and combat corruption in the educational system was authorized in collaboration with the Centre for Combating Economic Crime and Corruption. The study focused on cheating and bribery for grades. The corruption is due to poor student and teacher quality, low effective penalties, and limited relevance of knowledge and skills acquired through education. The MET developed a standardized national entrance examination and outsourced state examinations to an independent external agency. Goolam Mohamedbhai (2015) concluded that it is high time now to declare war on corruption in higher education. There are many organizations addressing some of the issues, such as UNESCO’s International Institute of Planning (IIEP) and the US based Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). But there is a need to setup a consortium of relevant national, regional and international organizations to devise appropriate strategies, policies and actions for combating the scourge. The recently created post of Chief Vigilance Officer is not enough. The war on corruption in higher education must be fought and won, if not, the national and global consequences could be too serious to be even completed. There is a need for the close supervision of the Governing Council. The
government has to protect high education institutes from the corrupt CEOs. Objectives The objectives of this research study are as follows:
To identify the most prevalent corruptions in engineering institutes To identify the root causes for these corrupt practices To suggest the elimination methods to safeguard the reputation and the students career opportunities
Research Methodology Adopted survey research method. The senior lecturers, heads of departments and vice-principals who participated in three faculty development workshops in Higher Education Administration, Institutional Development, Internal Revenue Generation and Human Resource Management are involved in this research work. In addition, the doctoral students, and the Overseas Participants in Human Resource Development are also included. Quality Circles (QC) each consist of 8 participants were briefed about the process of analyzing the cases through QC method. 12 workshops were selected for this research. Totally 720 participants with bachelor degree in engineering and 2 to 15 years of experience were there. The members were selected at random. In each group there were Indian faculty members, one research scholar, and four overseas trainees. The case studies were designed based the feedback from the earlier batches were selected. The QC members were allowed around 40 minutes to discuss and five minutes to present the case. They also answered the questions raised by other members. Quality Circle The Japanese Companies formed quality circles as effective tools for improving the quality of the products. They institutionalized quality circles for productive and participative problem-solving interaction among the employees of an organization (Budhraja Steve, 2011; Colvin Diane, Ishikawa, 1979; Beckford, 2002; Crossby, 1999; Juran, 1988) In this study, quality circles are established through the faculty members, research scholars in engineering education, and overseas participants in human resource management. The members of the quality circles have effectively contributed to the improvement of the institutes. They were able to follow the ethical
principles without any fear or compulsion to deviate from the ethical judgement. The members of quality circle identified exact problem being faced. They fearlessly brainstormed within the team. They finally suggested solutions to overcome the problem. They further developed attitudes and felt sense of involvement in the decision making. Galbraith Michael and Christian described the process of quality circle implementation process for higher education. The faculty members have undergone adequate training and they are competent to solve the problem. In addition, they are educational administrators with sufficient experience. Simmons John and Khan Susan (1990) emphasized the need for adequate training before the formation of quality circle. Case Studies The following case studies were taken from one institute over a period of 15 years. I.
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Deviations in the Selection of CEOs for Higher Education Institutes: This case study is centered around the improper selection of CEOs by the duly constituted committee of experts. Deviations in the implementation of consultancy projects own through bidding under the ongoing projects of International Development Agency by the CEOs: This case study is centered around the forwarding the projects to external agency by the CEO. Deviations in the use of funds allotted for fellowships programs in emerging technology by the CEOs: This case is centered around the stopping the contingency amounts, and misusing the expertise of the fellows selected. Deviations in the selecting the contractors for civil works and implementing the maintenance works: This case study is centered around the splitting a large maintenance work and allocating them without properly advertising the work and nominating the same set of agencies again and again even without getting earnest deposit and collecting the income tax as per the rules. Deviations in the conduct of final examinations under autonomy: This case study is centered around the improper way of setting the question paper, valuing it and falsification of accounts.
Background of the Cases
Most of the CEOs never took any steps to correct the deviations. Many audit reports pointed out the deviations, but the Governing Council never appointed any inquiry committee to investigate. There were many court cases in selection of one of the CEO, and faculty members. The court also stayed the selection. The problems due to shortage of faculty impacted on the quality of innovative programs. In one institute the CEO was suspended when the corruption case was established. Most of the times, inquiries were done after the completion of the CEO but in some cases the retirement benefits are reduced as a punishment. In one case, the president of the university was sentenced to jail due to corruption. Most of the CEOs of these cases did not possess the required qualifications and experiences. They perpetuate the corruption. Most of them are able to get the selection and posting. One infers the invisible forces in the selection of CEOs even though highly qualified and experienced faculty members appear. For example, Dr R. Radhakrishnan, Former ViceChancellor, Anna University-Coimbatore got five years jail in graft case (The Hindu). HC ordered the removal of Integral University VC. All these irregularities and action taken by the High- Courts prove that the selections done by the “expert committees� are not based on ethics. The corrupt CEOs would continue to lower the efforts of the highly competent faculty in developing human capital and knowledge capital. The competitiveness of the Indian Higher Education would be lowered. Case-I: Selection of an outstanding CEO for higher education institutes Questions raised QC members for Analysis: 1.
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4. 5. 6. 7.
Whether the institute has prepared the advertisement indicating the desirable expertise, qualification, achievement? Whether the expert committee members analyzed the committee skills and competencies of the candidates properly? Whether the expert committee read the short-listed candidates credentials with the proof of the documents, certificates, years of experiences, contribution to knowledge capital? Whether the claimed publications were checked? Whether the outstanding innovations are cross verified? Whether the committee gave points for all activities? Whether proper weightage has given to various factors like number doctorates guided, number of new courses implemented, number of international
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9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
14. 15.
conferences conducted, number of patents filed, and number of global consultancies completed? Have they evaluated how s/he can bring innovations to transform the institute as a global center? How will s/he generate funds for undertaking new projects and development works? How will s/he transform the institute? What are the feedbacks on the Memorandum of Administration? What are the feedbacks on the Service Recruitments Rules of the Institute? What are the feedbacks on the Developments suggested by the expert committees appointed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development? What are the new postgraduate programs that he will plan in the next year? What is his or her vision?
Outcome of the QC Deliberation:
The institute must provide a detailed advertisement consisting of the programs, departments, expert committee’s suggestions for the institute’s development, total budget, and major achievements. The selection committee members should have sufficient knowledge about the institutes, the desired expertise of the candidates, and should carefully verify the achievement, innovations, and their recognition. The committee should rank order the achievements, vision, and their proposals for transformation of the institute. They can get the peer feedback on their previous achievements. Their recommendation should be based on the verified statements and free from any external influence. The authorities should interview the first three candidates and they should rank order the candidates based on their extraordinary achievements and vison. If the rules and norms are not followed, the corrupt CEO would continue to cheat the institute through embezzling, frauds, extortion, favoritism, abuse of office and clientelist corruption.
Case-II: Corruption and Deviations in the Project Implementation Questions raised for Analysis
1.
What are the major attributes of the technical and financial proposals submitted for the bidding? 2. What are the conditions that team put to the clients for execution? 3. What are terms and conditions that the client indicated for the proposal? 4. What are the qualifications and achievements of the team which proposed the proposals? 5. Is there any change in the TOR after getting the award? 6. Is there any demand for additional bank guarantee? 7. Is there any natural calamity in the institute/ civil unrest in the department which affected the undertaking of the award? 8. Are there any dropout of the expert team due to retirement or demise of star performers? 9. Is there any ban on undertaking of the project from the Governing Council? 10. Whether the project leader declined to continue in the project? 11. Whether the institute can get additional adjunct faculty to work with the team? 12. Whether the additional equipment is required? Outcome of the QC Deliberation: If these conditions do not warrant any change in the project team, the institute must maintain the project with the institute. The CEO must strengthen the faculty and monitor the progress. The team may need more support from the administration. Case-III: Corruption and Deviations in the use of funds allotted for the fellowships Questions raised for Analysis
What is the basis for allotting the fellowships by the ministry? Who monitors the expenditure on the fellowships? Whether the CEO can alter the funds allotted for fellowships? Whether the Governing Council has any authority to alter the government order? Who selects the research fellows? What are the basic qualification to select the research fellows? Can the research fellows can register for PhD? Whether the doctoral committee can recommend any change in the grant of fellowship? Suppose if there is any reduction in the fellowship, can the research fellows request for restoration of the amount as per the government order? What is the role of Governing Council in this aspect?
What is the role of the Audit party?
Outcome of the QC deliberation: The MHRD has planned to improve the human capital through research. The fellowship amount has been based on the cost of living and to attract the brilliant candidates to research. Later, they would take up teaching posts. If the fellows do not show any significant progress in their research work, necessary warning must be given. There is no authority to reduce the fellowship or withheld the contingencies. Case-IV: Corruption and Deviations in the selection of contractors for maintenance works: Questions raised for Analysis
What are the rules/ norms/ standards to be followed for calling the contractors? Who are the registered contractors? How do they select the contractor? Can we split the work in to smaller components to award the work within the financial limit? Whether the contractor must submit the income tax clearance before award of the contract? Whether the contractor must pay the EMD? How do we fix the amount of payment to the contractor? Whether the measurement must be taken to record the progress? Who is empowered to do the check measurement? What the deductions to be made in the payment?
Outcome of the QC Deliberation: The contract works for maintenance should follow the standards of the government. The procedure like getting EMD and income tax clearance are to be produced by the contractor. The measurement should be taken, and the same should be checked. Then only the bill should be prepared. The department has to deduct the income tax for the works completed and same has to be remitted to the IT department. Case Study-V: Corruption and Deviations in the conduct of final examinations under autonomy Questions raised for Analysis
What are the advantages in conducting the programs under autonomy? As per the university norms who should conduct the final examinations? Who should set the question papers? Who approves the examiners?
Is there any need to constitute the Board of Studies? What is the role of Academic Council? Can the program officer set the paper by himself and forge the external examiners signature? Can he forge the signature of the external examiner and take the honorarium?
Outcome of the QC Deliberation: The autonomy is given to the well performing institutes based on the resources and expertise of the faculty members. The institutes should excel in planning and conducting excellent programs. They must follow the University Grants Norms for planning and implementing the autonomous programs. The institute cannot alter the rules of the examination. Inferences Impact of improper selection of CEOs for higher education institutes:
Bribes and pay offs destroy the culture Increases academic fraud Sets criteria for bypass the honesty and excellence Multiply the academic fraud Leadership losses its credibility Undermine the educational quality of the programs Erode the educational resources Devastating effect on the future of the country Provides inequitable access to educational administration Erode the students’ confidence to compete for jobs Limit career prospects in the transnational industries Devalue the degrees and certificates Erode the confidence of alumni Reduce the formation of human capital Erode the ROI on capacity development Erode the confidence of donors Diminish the capacity of the faculty to bid for projects under IDAs Lose the networking of the global institutes Lead to more litigation Star faculty would migrate Create informal associations which are counter to excellence Illicit payments attract low quality learners Destroy the formation of knowledge capital Lower the capacity of national innovation system and global competitiveness Ignore the focus on high-end research Destroy the reputation in a moment
Skimming from project grants Cultivate plagiarism Undermine the efforts of the high-performing teams who are working in cutting edge research areas Destroy the creativity of research students Enable the growth of mediocre faculty Eradicate the principles of openness, flexibility and creativity Diminish the links with growth of economy Aid bribery, fraud, extortion, embezzlement and favoritism Create cascading impact on the growth of knowledge society Aid the corrupt process in all institutional building activities Affects the excellent faculty High risks for society Efforts invested in winning global projects Autonomous institutes must follow all ethical norms in planning and implementing high quality educational programs Fellowships programs are to be implemented to meet the knowledge capital The maintenance funds are to be utilized without compromise on the quality Externally funded projects which were won based on the excellent proposals should not be handed over to external agencies Misuse of authority for private gain Establishment of Independent Judicial Institutions for Investigation and Preventing the Corruption in Higher Education 720 senior participants who attended the planned workshops in Leadership Development, Higher Education Administration, Institutional Development, Internal Revenue Generation through Consultancy Projects, and Human Resource Management affirmed to high ethical values and corruption free educational institutes in engineering and technology. Many efforts are being undertaken by various governments and international organizations to eliminate corruption in education. Some are as follows: UNESCO’s Institute of Educational Planning (IIEP) and the U.S based Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), Four Corners Program of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (April 2005), Feedback from Moscow Police, American Association for Advancement of Science: Research Integrity
Training, The Woolf Inquiry: An Inquiry into London School of Economics links with Libya and Lesson to be Learned, October 2011, and Measures to Prevent Corruption (toolkit.ineesite.org/TNEEcms/updates/1038/Preve nting_Corruption_in_TheEducation_System.pdf). However, none of the recommendations provide any solution for selecting a CEO through foolproof method. Hence, the following actions are recommended: Establishing a unit in the State Higher Education Council to investigate the reported corrupt practices in higher education, constituting a Central Educational Tribunal in every State Capital, creating a standing Committee in all Governing Councils of the Autonomous Councils and developing guidelines for recruitment of CEOs of the higher education institutes. Conclusions The mother of all corruptions centers around the improper selection of incompetent CEOs for higher education. They are the root cause for the corruptions in faculty selection, spending of the project grants, plagiarism, down fall of the reputation of the institute. Many court cases were filed on the CEOs and the corrupt persons were punished, but the reputations were lost forever. Hence, the Government should follow the scientific methods for selecting the expert members to choose the outstanding candidates. The short- listed candidates are to be peer evaluated. This method would ensure excellent human capital development. References Academic Services &Faculty Development, https://www.cbu.edu/academic-services Aishalabi (2013) Corruption in Higher Education Appears to be on the Rise Globally, www.chronicle.com/article/Corruption-in-HigherEducation/142013 Ali Pajazite and Shgipe Gerguri Rashiti Towards University Ethics and Academic Excellence: Addressing and Fighting Corruptions, https://www.academic.edu/10303991/UNIVERSITY_ AND_CORRUPTION
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www.universityworldnews.com/articles.php.story=2013100 11601405 CV of the Author: Thanikachalam Vedhathiri, B.E. (1968, Civil Eng., Univ. of Madras), M. Tech. (1970, Soil Mech. and Foundation Eng. IIT Madras), Ph.D. (1975, Civil Eng. Univ. of Madras, M.S. (1988, Instruction System Technology, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA), FIGS, FIE, FFIUCEE, Former Fulbright Scholar, and guided 18 Scholars for Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Engineering Education.