TISL’s Monitoring Programme complements the training and education programmes. It produces independent analysis of corruption and malpractice in selected sectors, and provides benchmarks to measure progress towards increased accountability and integrity in those sectors.
An area that is of key importance to Sri Lanka’s economic and social development is education. While a lot of anecdotal evidence exists of corruption and malpractice in public education, no systematic assessment has been don e in Sri Lanka. Therefore, TISL is conducting a survey on the forms and incidence of corruption and malpractices in public education in five provinces of Sri Lanka. Parents, teachers, officials at zonal, provincial and ministerial level and other stakeholders have been interviewed in order to obtain a clear picture of existing difficulties. Results will be shared with stakeholders and joint recommendations will be formulated. A report will be launched in October.
TISL’s work at the local level involves training for local governments, municipal and urban councils as well as pradeshya sabhas. In order to better understand the existing problems of local government, a survey is currently carried out in Badulla, Monaragala, Puttalam and Kurunegala districts that will provide a mapping of malpractice, and will inform the design of teaching content and material for the local government training programme. Officials and elected members as well as ‘users’ of local government are interviewed. A report will be launched in October.
Another survey looks into the issue of integrity in the recruitment to foreign employment. The sector of foreign employment is rapidly expanding: One fifth of Sri Lankas work force is employed abroad, and remittances from migrant workers constitute about 10% of GDP. The study ascertains the forms of malpractice that migrant workers are subject to when being recruited, and compares regulation and practice with those of other migrant-sending countries. This research will be published at the beginning of 2009.