SALARY TOP - UPS IN EDUCATION SECTOR AND ITS IMPACT ON CORRUPTION ACTIVITIES

Corruption distorts access to education and affects the quality of education and the reliability of academic research findings. The risk of corruption in education is magnified by the sheer scale of educational expenditures, both public and private. In most countries, education is the largest or second largest recipient of public funds, and employs the greatest number of public servants. Salary top-ups are a way to increase salaries in various sectors, including in the education sector. They can be used by governments to compensate for hardship jobs or increased workloads. Salary top-ups could be provided in the form of cash payments or in-kind benefits that a person receives over and above what colleagues and pay scale receive. The extent to which salary top-ups can be used as an anti-corruption strategy has to be seen in the context of how salaries can reduce or increase incentives for corruption.