International Institute for Education Policy Planning and Management (EPPM) within the international project “Integrity of education systems” started implementing the research with the aim to investigate risks of corruption in education and seek solutions in countries of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus region in order to create the conditions for replicating expertise and locally-led integrity assessments in the region.

Specifically, current research will focus on identifying facts of misconduct, corruption and nepotism in the process of recruitment of secondary school teachers’ and subsequently produce the policy recommendation for tackling the issue.

The assessment is based on the INTES methodology and evidence collection tools developed by CAPI within the framework of the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Qualitative research shall collect and analyze data through desk study, focus groups and in-depth interviews. The research shall consist of stages for data collection, data analysis and reporting. The results of the research will be publicly discussed and disseminated.

The project is co-led by Network of Education Policy Centers (NEPC) and Center for Applied Policy and Integrity (CAPI). Along with Georgia three other countries participate in the research project.

The desirable outcome of the project is to help the countries to discern how to tackle the corruption challenge by empowering education participants and stakeholders and to understand and address their integrity challenges “from within” their education institutions and professional environments.