Corruption in education

Caucasus Research Resource Centers has announced the results of the first stage of the Junior Research Fellowship Program - Azerbaijan. The winner is a researcher Aynur Ramazanova whose policy paper was about the challenging issue of corruption in Azerbaijani Universities.

She has found that 89.3% of students of the Azerbaijan Medical University surveyed in the project, had paid cash bribes at least once. Moreover,

Among the indicated causes of corruption were low teaching wages, a weak system of control over corruption in the higher education system, and the incompetence of management staff at universities. Results also found that students were often reluctant to learn and invest their energy into education since chances for a decent occupation on the labor market usually depend on the ability to pay bribe, rather than on their level of professionalism. The research also discusses the relationship between corruption and the general climate in society. When corruption and nepotism are a norm, students become socialized to it from early childhood.

The horror of the moment is a thought of finding a decent doctor after 10 years - unlike a university degree, health can't be bought by cash bribes.