This chapter looks at actions to cultivate citizens' commitment to public integrity, increase the low levels of public trust and reduce tolerance of violations of integrity standards. It also offers recommendations to mitigate possible negative effects of such actions by strengthening the evidence base and designing a communications strategy adapted to the Ecuadorian context. The chapter also offers recommendations for strengthening current efforts on education for integrity and citizenship of Ecuadorian children and youth in schools and universities.
Promoting Public Integrity across Ecuadorian Society
Towards a National Integrity System
OECD Public Governance Reviews
3. Cultivating citizens' commitment to public integrity in Ecuador
Abstract
3.1. Introduction
Individuals play a key role in promoting a culture of integrity in the whole-of-society (OECD, 2020[1]). In their various interactions with the public sector, individuals have a shared responsibility to ensure that society's ethical norms, principles and values are respected. This responsibility is reflected in several ways: through respecting the rules governing their interactions with public officials and access to public resources, not participating in fraudulent schemes to access social benefits, paying taxes, and reporting corruption and fraud whenever they encounter them.
To cultivate society's commitment to public integrity and reduce tolerance of ethical violations, governments can take a variety of actions. For example, they can raise awareness of the costs of corruption and the benefits of public integrity, establish new social norms and standards of behaviour for individuals, raise awareness among citizens of their responsibilities for public integrity, educate children and young people about their role in protecting integrity and equip them with the skills to resist integrity failures (OECD, 2020[1]).
3.2. Raising awareness in Ecuadorian society about the benefits of public integrity and citizens’ responsibilities in promoting integrity
Awareness-raising activities are one of the main mechanisms by which governments can increase citizens' understanding of public integrity issues (OECD, 2020[1]). However, raising awareness of integrity and anti-corruption efforts is not a question of educating about the existence of corruption, which citizens are well aware of, but about how to break the vicious circle that enables and encourages lack of integrity in society. To this end, the body in charge of communications in this area must have a clear understanding of what to communicate. This entails understanding what the main integrity and anti-corruption challenges are by using evidence rather than mere impressions, as well as designing an appropriate communication strategy.
3.2.1. The Anti-Corruption Public Policy Secretariat could take the lead in strengthening the evidence base on integrity and anti-corruption challenges in Ecuadorian society
In terms of context and as a first approximation to understanding Ecuador’s challenges in cultivating citizens’ commitment to public integrity, the evidence suggests that there is a high tolerance for “everyday” integrity violations in the country. Indeed, rejection of breaches of integrity in Ecuador is low compared to the average rejection in OECD countries. In three of the four cases of unethical behaviour analysed – namely, claiming government benefits to which one is not entitled to, avoiding payment of a public transport fare, and accepting a bribe in the course of one's duty, Ecuadorian citizens' rejection is lower than the average rejection of OECD countries (Figure 3.1). In addition, 44% of Ecuadorians said they agreed to tolerate a certain level of corruption as long as the country's problems are solved, which is higher than the regional average1 corresponding to 40% of respondents (Corporación Latinobarómetro, 2018[6]).
Figure 3.1. Rejection of breaches of integrity in Ecuador
Percentage of respondents who stated that it is “never justifiable” to act in the following way
Note: The OECD average includes Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Greece, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Türkiye, and the United States.
Source: World Values Survey, 7th wave (2017-2022), (The World Bank, 2017[4]).
This reality is complemented by a low intention to report misconduct. Indeed, 47% of Ecuadorians said they agreed that “when you know about something corrupt, it is better to keep quiet” (Corporación Latinobarómetro, 2018[6]). Furthermore, Ecuador has the lowest percentage of people in the Latin American region who agree with the statement “if I don't report an act of corruption that I know about, I become an accomplice”: only 58% of Ecuadorians think that not reporting an act of corruption that they know about makes a person an accomplice, compared to the regional average2 of 74% (Corporación Latinobarómetro, 2018[6]).
In addition, there is a significant trust gap between Ecuadorian citizens and public institutions. As Figure 3.2 shows, there is a high level of distrust among citizens towards the main public institutions - namely political parties, the government, the president, congress, the electoral institution, the judiciary, and the police. In all cases, trust levels in Ecuador are lower than the average for the Latin American region. Low levels of trust in public institutions can be a risk factor for clientelism and other forms of corruption, especially if combined with poor levels - perceived or actual - of public service access and delivery.
Figure 3.2. Percentage of Ecuadorians who expressed “a lot of trust” or “some trust” in major public institutions
Note: The Latin American average includes information from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
High levels of distrust are also present among Ecuadorian citizens themselves. Indeed, interpersonal trust in 2020 in Ecuador stands at 9%, which is below the regional average of 12%3 (Corporación Latinobarómetro, 2021[5]) and serves as a major barrier to collective action. Considering that Latin America is the region in the world with the highest levels of interpersonal distrust (Corporación Latinobarómetro, 2021[5]), the low levels of trust in Ecuador, which are even below the regional average, demonstrate the great challenges that exist in this area.
Finally, public opinion on the effectiveness of the government's anti-corruption reforms is low. Indeed, the most recent Latinobarómetro survey shows that only 28% of Ecuadorians indicated that “a lot” or “some” progress has been made in reducing corruption in State institutions during the two years prior to the survey (Corporación Latinobarómetro, 2021[5]). Along the same lines, the Corruption Barometer Ecuador 2022 report revealed that only one in four people, 23% of those surveyed, believe that the current government is fulfilling its promises on anti-corruption (Fundación Cuidadanía y Desarrollo and Transparency International, 2023[3]).
All of the above suggests that to implement a public integrity approach in the whole of Ecuadorian society, it is necessary to challenge the widespread beliefs that justify integrity violations and discourage citizens from reporting acts of corruption, to increase the low levels of public trust in public institutions, and to counteract the low perception of the effectiveness of government actions in the fight against corruption. However, while the above may be interesting starting points for the design of a communication strategy, additional information is required to allow for a more detailed and comprehensive assessment of integrity challenges in a country context. This is especially relevant in a country like Ecuador, where there is great diversity in cultural, ethnic and geographic terms, which can generate a high degree of heterogeneity in terms of perceptions of corruption, levels of trust in public institutions, tolerance of integrity violations, among others, and a need to communicate differentially.
In this sense, the SPPA could take the lead in strengthening the evidence base on the main challenges related to integrity and the fight against corruption, distinguishing, whenever possible and relevant, the particularities of the different “communities” that make up Ecuadorian society. To this end, the SPPA could consider strengthening co-operation with universities, research centres and academic researchers, who could conduct research in relevant areas to inform the formulation of awareness-raising campaigns and integrity policies. Furthermore, considering the generally low levels of trust in public institutions, having an academic partner can serve as a safeguard for the independence and methodological soundness of the research (see also Section 3.3).
Similarly, citizens' experiences and views can also serve as a guide to identify challenges - for example, on access to and use of certain public services - and move towards integrity. There are different ways of collecting relevant information that can be used to strengthen integrity, such as inviting users of public services to answer a short anonymous satisfaction survey in which they answer questions not only on the quality of the public service they received, but also on perception of integrity of the institution or the public official they interacted with. In Ecuador, such an initiative is currently being implemented with the aim of reducing micro-corruption practices and promote transparency and integrity within a pilot public institution by means of a public intervention with a behavioural approach. Different institutions including the Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, SENESCYT), the Ombudsman's Office, the SPPA, the Institute of Higher National Studies (Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales, IAEN), the Datalat and OpenlabEc Foundation, FLACSO Ecuador and ÉPICO, are working together with Thinkia, a Citizen Laboratory, in the development of this project. The initiative consists of anonymous satisfaction surveys of public services provided by SENESCYT in an intervention group and a control group, which will be subjected to different treatments in order to assess their impact, define opportunities for improvement in the provision of public services, and identify corruption risks to be mitigated.
Additionally, the increase in digitisation of interactions between citizens and the public sector creates a variety of opportunities to incorporate short questions into administrative procedures that later can be used for assessing the impact of integrity policies. Similarly, physical elements, such as a poster or a screen located directly in the public office, can be used for citizens to leave their comments. These mechanisms of collecting relevant information not only provide data on the quality and risks of corruption in particular public services but could also help build trust in public institutions by demonstrating that they are open to dialogue and continuous improvement.
3.2.2. The Anti-Corruption Public Policy Secretariat could design a communication strategy that encompasses, gives coherence to and guarantees the continuity and desired impact of public awareness-raising activities
While strengthening the evidence base for understanding key public integrity challenges, it is also necessary to design awareness-raising campaigns informed by this evidence and aimed not only at challenging existing social norms, but also at communicating and demonstrating expected new social norms (Bicchieri, 2016[19]). Along these lines and aware of the importance of promoting a culture of public integrity in the whole of Ecuadorian society, the SPPA included actions aimed at communicating the role and responsibilities of citizens in upholding public integrity in the ENA action plan. Examples of these initiatives are: promoting awareness-raising campaigns on the prevention and fight against corruption, promoting channels for reporting possible acts of corruption, disseminating information related to corruption and implementing training modules for citizens on issues related to the prevention of corruption (Secretariat for Anti-Corruption Public Policy, 2022[11]).
However, to ensure that these actions effectively challenge corruption and generate new rules of integrity in society in the long term, it is important to have a communication strategy that encompasses, provides coherence to and guarantees the continuity and expected impact of the different activities over a longer period. In addition, it is also important to consider that talking about corruption and the costs related to this phenomenon can have unintended consequences, which could be mitigated by designing a communication strategy. Indeed, in contexts where corruption is very present in public debate and the media, as is the case in Ecuador, campaigns that seek to raise awareness of corruption could have a counter-productive effect by increasing the already high perception of corruption and confirming the impression that this is a widespread situation. Moreover, research has shown that unethical behaviour is contagious and that corruption-centred communication can result in a “self-fulfilling prophecy” effect, in which the perception that corruption is a common practice in society can lead to the rationalisation and justification of one's own unethical behaviour (Ajzenman, 2021[20]; Bicchieri and Xiao, 2009[21]; Corbacho et al., 2016[22]; Gino, Ayal and Ariely, 2009[23]; Robert and Arnab, 2013[24]). Such risks related to communication failures can be mitigated by carefully designing a communication strategy.
In Ecuador, the SPPA elaborated the Strategic Communication Plan (Plan Estratégico de Comunicación) 2023, requested and approved by SEGCOM. The general objective of this plan is to “contribute to generating a culture of public integrity through the promotion of corruption prevention mechanisms, citizen co-responsibility and compliance with the National Anti-Corruption Strategy”. Some of its specific objectives are to publicise the nine main lines of action of the ENA to be implemented by the SPPA, to raise awareness and strengthen the capacities of citizens and public officials in the areas of ethics, transparency and integrity, and to inform about the tools and mechanisms for the prevention of corruption generated by the SPPA.
Although the Strategic Communication Plan 2023 contains communication actions that include some of the key elements of communication campaigns – such as the problem to be addressed, indicators, target audience, dissemination channel, among others, it could be strengthened with a medium-term strategic vision and broader specific objectives. For example, the time frame of the plan is one year (2023) when it could cover a similar time frame to that of the ENA action plan. Regarding the specific objectives, these focus on communicating about the actions, mechanisms and tools of the SPPA rather than informing about the actions, mechanisms and tools of the integrity system as a whole.
To this end, the SPPA could consider developing a medium-term communication strategy that identifies a series of awareness-raising campaigns and the appropriate time frame for each of them, with the aim of raising awareness on public integrity and anti-corruption. In order to ensure that this strategy responds to technical criteria and recognising that integrity and anti-corruption policies are sensitive and of high political relevance, it is relevant to strengthen the administrative and organisational autonomy of the SPPA as discussed in Section 1.2.1, in particular with regard to the definition of its communication strategy. However, this independence does not prevent collaboration and co-ordination with other relevant entities. For example, to develop the communications strategy, the SPPA could work in co-ordination with other public sector institutions with experience in communications and citizens engagement - for example, SEGCOM and the entities of the Transparency and Social Control Function, ensuring the SPPA's autonomy to design awareness-raising campaigns based on technical criteria and relevant information.
The communication strategy could incorporate the actions foreseen in the ENA, as well as other relevant actions derived from the analysis of the Ecuadorian context and integrity challenges. For each of the actions included in the communications strategy, the following elements should be identified:
Expected outcomes (e.g. attitudes or behaviours to be changed, skills to be developed, etc.)
Target audience
Key messages (recalling the possible unintended effects highlighted above)
Communication channels (e.g. television, websites, social media, print media)
Evaluation mechanisms (e.g. public opinion surveys, web analytics, participation in events, number of complaints submitted, etc.)
Similarly, the SPPA could build on existing awareness-raising initiatives developed by other relevant actors in Ecuador, establishing alliances with different actors from the private sector and civil society (Box 3.1).
Box 3.1. Examples of communication and awareness-raising campaigns implemented by the private sector and civil society organisations in Ecuador
In Ecuador, the private sector and CSOs have played an important role in promoting public integrity in the whole-of-society. Some examples of communication and awareness-raising campaigns implemented by the private sector and CSOs are presented below:
“Creole Honesty” (Honestidad Criolla) campaign
On 9 December 2019, the International Chamber of Commerce (Cámara de Comercio Internacional, ICC), through the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission, launched the “Honestidad Criolla” campaign, with the aim of promoting a cultural change in Ecuadorian society and preventing acts of corruption. The campaign, which includes a YouTube video, seeks to reach Ecuadorians with a positive message, to promote a change in citizens' behaviour and to stop normalising acts that are wrong, such as petty corruption and bad actions. The video presents citizens who, given the choice to act contrary to integrity - for example, by buying pirated films, plagiarising publications or accepting bribes - decide to act honestly and contribute to change.
In addition, during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICC, with support from SEGCOM, produced a new video in the framework of this campaign to show what “Honestidad Criolla” means in the framework of COVID-19 vaccination, an area of high risk for corruption.
“I Am a Victim of Corruption!” (¡Yo si soy víctima de la corrupción!) campaign
In 2022, the Fundación Lucha contra la Corrupción started the implementation of the campaign “I Am a Victim of Corruption!” with the support of private companies, international co-operation organisations, student organisations and young people. This campaign aimed to develop collective awareness on several issues: to boost citizens' commitment to the anti-corruption struggle; to enhance the involvement of youth - particularly students - in the anti-corruption struggle; and to develop - in constructive terms - the role of social networks as a mechanism for transmitting social demands to political bodies.
Through different media - social networks, strategic alliance with the Fundación Unión Estudiantil and traditional media - young Ecuadorians between 16 and 18 years old were invited to express in videos, to be published on TikTok or Twitter, their reflections on one or more of the following topics:
Why citizens are victims of corruption, not just the State.
Why the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) should declare that citizens are indeed victims of corruption.
What is the role of citizens in the fight against corruption.
Encourage the National Assembly to process the Draft Organic Law Reforming the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code to Clarify the Role of the Citizen as Private Prosecutor in Corruption-Related Crimes.
On 15 August 2022, an award ceremony for the winners of the competition was held at the National Assembly's Commission for Political Oversight and Control (Comisión de Fiscalización y Control Político de la Asamblea Nacional).
Source: Interviews during the fact-finding mission, (Chamber of Commerce of Quito, 2019[25]) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdhyXNH0dxA&t=98s.
With regards to the content (messages) of awareness-raising campaigns, these could start by positioning the concept of “public integrity”. Public integrity is more than a rational choice against corruption. Public integrity is about encouraging behaviour in the public interest over the self-serving behaviour such as corrupt and unethical practices, moving from an approach that focuses on deterrence and enforcement to one that promotes values-based decisions in the public sector and in the whole-of-society (OECD, 2018[26]). Then, considering the high level of tolerance of integrity violations and the low intention to report misconduct in Ecuador, awareness-raising campaigns could be built on two complementary pillars. First, with the aim of promoting citizens' co-responsibility for upholding public integrity, campaigns could highlight the costs that a lack of integrity generates for the economy and the whole of society (success factor “generate community responsibility” on Table 3.1). In this sense, awareness-raising campaigns could challenge any justification for unethical behaviour and create a link between individual integrity and wider public benefit. Second, with the aim of increasing citizens' sense of agency towards public integrity, awareness-raising campaigns could incentivise action by offering tangible alternatives for citizens to stand up for public integrity, including the reporting of corrupt behaviour (success factor “increasing a sense of agency” from Table 3.1).
Finally, considering the low level of public trust in public institutions, awareness-raising campaigns could also include a transversal component used to rebuild citizens' trust and strengthen their participation and support for ongoing public integrity initiatives. This could be achieved by going beyond communicating about the government's efforts to prevent corruption and instead focusing on demonstrating that change is possible through success stories of effective behavioural change in the public administration and society. These actions aimed at regaining citizen’s trust should also be included in the communication strategy and should contain all elements previously identified to increase the chances of impact.
3.3. Strengthening education on public integrity and citizenship in Ecuador's schools and universities
Building a culture of integrity in society necessarily begins with the education of the very young (OECD, 2018[28]). Public integrity education helps children and young people develop the knowledge and skills necessary to resist corruption and help challenge the social norms that enable corruption to flourish. In addition, public integrity education can generate new social norms and common knowledge about expected behaviours to prevent corruption, which contributes to raising citizens who are aware of their role and responsibility in promoting integrity from an early age. For example, evidence has shown that civic education programmes can increase the likelihood of young people rejecting authoritarian governments, corrupt practices and excuses for breaking the law (Ainley et al., 2011[29]).
3.3.1. The Ministry of Education could establish a multi-stakeholder working group with responsibilities for strengthening current efforts on education for integrity within the framework of the existing national curriculum reform process
In Ecuador, the current national curriculum addresses elements of education for public integrity at all levels of the General Basic Education (Educación General Básica) and the Unified General Baccalaureate (Bachillerato General Unificado), specifically in the area of Social Sciences, under the curricular block “coexistence” (convivencia). The “coexistence” block is defined as the
“...appreciation of social coexistence (family, school, neighbourhood, community, etc.) as an indispensable condition (...); introduction to the process of “political literacy” of students, through learning about rights and responsibilities, social inequalities, forms of social organisation and harmonious coexistence with human beings and nature; development of the process of “political literacy” of students, through understanding and appreciation of citizenship, rights and responsibilities, democracy, the social role of the State, cultural diversity, communication and interculturality. In the baccalaureate, this block deepens students' civic education through a critical analysis of democracy, its origins, foundations and limitations (...)” (Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 157[30]).
This block includes conceptual contents related to public integrity, depending on the student’s age, such as common values of society, rights and duties of citizenship, democracy and the State, among others (Figure 3.3). Particularly, in the Baccalaureate “this block deepens the civic education of students, through the critical analysis of democracy, its origins, foundations and limitations, as well as the creative options of social and political organisation that arise in the face of it, based on a philosophical conception of social and political organisation” (Ministry of Education, 2016[30]). In addition, in accordance with the compulsory curriculum, a specific work schedule has been established for this subject, to ensure it is feasible to address the established conceptual contents.
Figure 3.3. Map of conceptual contents of the curricular block “coexistence”
Note: The Ecuadorian education system is composed of 1) Initial education (Educación inicial): children between 3 and 5 years old; 2) General Basic Education: children between 5 and 15 years old and includes four sub-levels: Basic preparatory (Básica preparatoria): first grade of primary school, Basic elementary (Básica elemental): second to fourth grade of primary school, Middle basic (Básica media): fifth to eighth grade, and Upper basic (Básica superior): eighth to tenth grade; 3) Unified General Baccalaureate: young people between 16 and 19 years old, last three years of compulsory education.
Source: (Ministry of Education, 2016[30]).
However, there is currently a high degree of heterogeneity in the way in which this block is taught in the different schools in the country, in terms of form - time intensity, sometimes as a subject, sometimes as a cross-cutting theme in the curriculum - and in terms of content. Additionally, discussions with relevant stakeholders in Ecuador during the fact-finding mission revealed that there are weaknesses in terms of civic education in Ecuadorian society - e.g. knowledge about the rights and duties of citizens - and that there is a lack of general knowledge about the structure of the Ecuadorian State and the functions of the different public institutions with responsibilities associated with public integrity and anti-corruption - for example, which public institution(s) is/are responsible for investigating and sanctioning corruption offences and other breaches of integrity.
As a consequence of these and other weaknesses of the current education system, the Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación) decided to reform the current national curriculum during the year 2023, through a participatory process that seeks to identify and include visions from the different sectors and territories of Ecuador. In this sense, to contribute to this process, the Ministry of Education has held meetings with the community, which has provided important inputs to strengthen the design of public policy in education and to share visions on educational transformation, curricular transformation and competency-based learning. The contributions and reflections from these meetings will be systematised in a public document during the second half of 2023.
Considering the above, this reform is the perfect opportunity to incorporate education for public integrity in the Ecuadorian curriculum by introducing, for example, a civic education course that explicitly incorporates age-appropriate modules on public integrity for all students in the General Basic Education and the General Unified Baccalaureate, and to develop guidelines and training activities for teachers to support the education of children and young people for public integrity. In this regard, the Ministry of Education and the SPPA have already held meetings to ensure SPPA’s participation in the curriculum reform process and to include key elements for public integrity and civic education in the new curriculum.
There are many benefits of mainstreaming public integrity education through the curriculum. For example, it provides a solid approach to education for public integrity and ensures comprehensive coverage for all students throughout the country (OECD, 2018[28]). It also allows the search for complementarities between different subjects, thus reducing the risk of curriculum overload and repetition (OECD, 2018[28]). While this may be a time-consuming process, it is essential to take advantage of the existing national curriculum reform to address the identified deficiencies in terms of civic and public integrity education, thereby strengthening education on civic and public integrity from an early stage.
Given the interdisciplinary nature that this work requires and considering that acceptance by key stakeholders is necessary for public integrity education to be effective, the Ministry of Education could consider establishing a multi-stakeholder working group to ensure that the new curriculum reflects good practices and relevant knowledge on integrity. The working group could include representatives from the Ministry of Education, the SPPA and the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control, as well as educators, universities, parents' associations and/or student groups and civil society organisations. The Ministry of Education could even invite people/organisations who have experience in curriculum design and who can provide pedagogical feedback on the materials produced. Countries such as the Slovak Republic could serve as an inspiration for Ecuador when designing multi-stakeholder co-operation mechanisms to ensure the inclusion of integrity in the curriculum (Box 3.2).
Box 3.2. Multi-stakeholder co-operation to integrate integrity into the curriculum
Slovak Republic
In February 2023, the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, in co-operation with the National Institute of Education and Youth, launched a public consultation on the educational standards of the new state educational programme - the educational standards are a supplement to the state educational programme, which defines the specific objectives of education and training, the profile of those who complete it, the framework curriculum, etc., which will be integrated in all educational areas. The consultation was open to teachers, education experts, parents and other interested members of the general public. A report of the public consultation with statistics and type of comments received is published at: https://vzdelavanie21.sk/sprav-konzultacia-standardy/.
In addition, as part of the process of preparing and implementing the changes, the National Institute of Education and Youth set up central subject committees for primary and secondary education, which were managed and co-ordinated by the Core Co-ordination Group. A Student Advisory Committee was also established to enable students to react to changes.
Once the new state education programme and updated standards are approved, a pilot will be conducted in schools that express interest in participating in the implementation phase of the new state education programme in 2023/2024. In this regard, as of September 2023, the first 30 primary schools will teach their first-grade students according to the new curriculum. Nationwide implementation will be mandatory for primary schools in the 2026/2027 school year.
Once the working group is formed, it could be tasked with the responsibility of strengthening integrity education efforts within the reform process framework of the current national curriculum. To this end, the working group could provide feedback on the materials proposed by the Ministry of Education and/or take an active part in the design of the new learning outcomes, lesson plans and other guidance material for schools. The learning outcomes of the civic and public integrity education course, in particular the modules on public integrity, could draw on international good practice and be inspired on the OECD learning outcomes for education about public integrity (Table 3.2).
Table 3.2. OECD suggested learning outcomes for education about public integrity
Source: (OECD, 2018[28]).
Guidance material for schools could build on the learning outcomes and incorporate active and participatory methods such as problem-solving games and simulations in class, role-play scenarios and small group discussions to engage students in a practical way. Indeed, experiential evidence has shown that students who participate in practical integrity-related activities not only develop the knowledge and skills to hold public servants accountable, but also show a greater willingness to contribute to integrity efforts in their communities (OECD, 2018[28]). In addition, international good practices also suggest adapting guidance materials to the local situation and undertaking community projects, e.g. a visit to a local government office to oversee reporting registers or preparing an access to information request as a way to encourage students to apply their knowledge and skills in a tangible way (OECD, 2018[28]).
3.3.2. The multi-stakeholder working group could be tasked with developing guidance material and trainings for educators on education for public integrity
To effectively facilitate learning about public integrity in the classroom, educators require skills, knowledge and the confidence to address contemporary social problems such as corruption, ethical dilemmas and lack of integrity. Therefore, the orientation and training of educators must be a central component of any effort to educate for public integrity (OECD, 2018[28]).
In Ecuador, the Ministry of Education has identified teacher training as one of the main challenges for successful implementation of education for public integrity. Teacher training refers to developing capacities and skills in educators that allow them to implement strategies and good educational-communication practices to help their students promote integrity and prevent corruption. In this regard, although the current national curriculum addresses elements of public integrity education, teachers do not have adequate pedagogical skills nor tools to foster the learning and implementation of these elements by children and young people.
With this in mind, within the reform process framework of the current national curriculum, the Ministry of Education has planned to develop a methodology guide for teachers and a digital training course. However, it is necessary to consider the particularities of education for public integrity and the need to strengthen not only the knowledge but also the skills associated with integrity, as well as the confidence of teachers to address contemporary social problems such as corruption. In this regard, the development of further guidance material and training for teachers specifically on integrity education is essential.
To that end, the multi-stakeholder working group could also be tasked with developing guidance material and trainings for educators on education for integrity. In doing so, it is important to consider that training for educators can take many forms, ranging from courses associated with general teacher training programmes - in the case of Ecuador, programmes within the National Lifelong Learning Plan (Plan Nacional de Formación Permanente) for teachers, to virtual courses, seminars and specific resource kits. In addition, training should ensure not only that educators have the appropriate knowledge to teach about public integrity and anti-corruption, but should also aim to develop skills that enable educators to foster an environment of trust and openness - so that students can open up about their views and concerns about values, as well as handle difficult and sensitive conversations about ethical and moral issues that may arise in the classroom (OECD, 2018[28]).
Furthermore, trainings can be complemented with guides and guidance materials on how to deliver the lesson in a dynamic and engaging way for students, how to communicate key concepts effectively and how to promote respectful and open dialogues within the classroom. In developing these guidelines, the working group could draw on good practice from a range of countries as summarised by the OECD in its report on Education for Integrity (OECD, 2018[28]).
3.3.3. The Anti-Corruption Public Policy Secretariat and the Ministry of Education could partner with civil society and public sector organisations to develop extracurricular activities to further promote public integrity education
Extracurricular teaching activities on public integrity may deepen the concepts of integrity, values, ethics and citizenship through interactive teaching techniques and by tailoring the content to specific schools, geographic regions and contexts. However, for these activities to achieve the expected results, it is important to identify and make use of synergies in the existing curriculum (OECD, 2018[28]).
In Ecuador, the Ministry of Education has been promoting extracurricular activities on public integrity and anti-corruption in schools nationwide. Indeed, since 2019, the Ministry of Education has joined the “Creole Honesty” campaign promoted by the ICC through the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission. In the framework of this campaign the Ministry of Education has also promoted the participation of schools in the “Growing up Honest” (Crecer Honesto) competition and in the inter-zonal student conversations on Creole Honesty. A brief description of these two activities is provided below:
Growing up Honest: This competition aims to promote the values of honesty, integrity, responsibility, respect and solidarity in children and young people through different artistic expressions that include painting, singing, dancing, poetry and/or storytelling, or video sketches.
Interzonal student discussions on Creole Honesty: The purpose of these talks is to encourage debate and reflection on honesty and its importance in the development of children and young people, as well as to contribute to the deconstruction of the idea of “viveza criolla” as a characteristic of Ecuadorian society and to propose strategies that promote creole honesty. The discussions are conducted around triggering questions in the following themes: “viveza criolla”, corruption, empathy, causalities.
In addition, to offer pedagogical and recreational alternatives after the school for children and young people in vulnerable situations - for example, children and young people in situation of abandonment or at risk of being recruited by criminal organisations - the Ministry of Education is designing an extended school day plan to be implemented as a pilot project in some of the country's educational institutions.
Considering the current efforts, the SPPA and the Ministry of Education could co-operate and partner with CSOs and the public sector to design and implement extracurricular activities that promote public integrity education, including within the framework of the extended day plan being developed by the Ministry of Education. This, taking into account that in Ecuador there are already in place interesting and successful initiatives on public integrity and citizenship education implemented by the private sector and CSOs (Box 3.3).
Box 3.3. Example of an initiative on public integrity education: IntegrArte Project
IntegrArte is a project implemented by the Esquel Foundation (Fundación Esquel), with the support of the Ecuador SinCero programme of the German Co-operation GIZ. This project aims to promote a culture of integrity, prevention of corruption and care for the environment, based on innovative citizen actions that strengthen ethical and democratic values among young people in Quito and Galapagos. This is done through:
Strengthening the capacities of young people for empowerment and advocacy in actions that promote integrity, corruption prevention and environmental care.
Raising public awareness.
Developing pedagogical tools and inputs for the promotion of the issues prioritised by the project in educational institutions.
Strengthening youth collectives that have an impact on the issues prioritised by the project.
As part of the results of this project, 50 young university students were trained nationally on integrity, transparency and care for the environment through the Train-the-trainer (Formador de Formadores) programme, and 170 first- and second-year high school students were reached within the framework of the Student Participation Programme (Programa de Participación Estudiantil) in Quito and Galápagos.
Source: Ecuador SinCero Programme of the GIZ and https://www.esquel.org.ec/es/home-integrarte.html.
Similarly, the SPPA and the Ministry of Education could consider creating alliances with other public entities to strengthen extracurricular education activities, as in the case of the recently signed Inter-institutional Agreement between the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control and the Ministry of Education with the aim of promoting education, training and capacity building on issues related to transparency, integrity, ethics, anti-corruption, citizen participation and social control, and implementing and strengthening mechanisms to promote transparency, citizen participation, social control and anti-corruption in the National Education System (Sistema Nacional de Educación). Examples of extracurricular pedagogical activities designed and implemented in Brazil by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) - sometimes in co-operation with CSOs and other relevant public entities - can serve as inspiration for Ecuador (Box 3.4).
Box 3.4. CGU initiatives to promote public integrity literacy among Brazilian students
“One for all and all for one! For ethics and citizenship” (Um por todos e todos por um! Pela ética e cidadania): This initiative for primary school students (6-10 years old) aim to educate future generations of citizens on issues related to ethics, citizenship, social participation, among others. It was developed in 2008 by the CGU in partnership with the Maurício de Sousa Institute and more recently with the Ministry of Education. The programme is structured around famous Brazilian cartoon characters, promotes content adapted to the age of the students and uses different media to support the learning process of the students, including magazines, stories, animation videos, cartoons, etc.
Citizenship Class (Turma da Cidadania): This initiative aimed at encouraging the development of an ethical and civic culture among students in the first two years of lower secondary school (10-12 years old). It includes didactic-pedagogical material (comics and animated videos) presenting various situations that portray the daily reality of many children and highlights the relevance of issues such as citizenship, democracy, ethics, combating bullying in schools, social participation and the fight against corruption.
Game of Citizenship (Game da Cidadania): A video game that exposes young people (11-17 years old) to situations in which their ethical and citizenship skills are put to the test, with the aim of developing a critical awareness of small acts of corruption that often go unnoticed. It allows users to create their own videos on the topics discussed and compete for different prizes.
Design and Writing Competition (Concurso de Desenho e Redação): This competition invites students (6-17 years old) to hold discussions on topics such as ethics, citizenship and social control (specific topics change each year). It allows participants to compete in different categories (design and writing in the case of students and their teachers according to their level of education, and mobilisation plans in the case of schools) and to compete for prizes.
3.3.4. Universities in Ecuador could consider integrating courses on public integrity and anti-corruption into undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes
University students, researchers and higher education institutions also play a key role in generating and disseminating knowledge on public integrity. As future employees, higher-education students need knowledge and skills to comply with the expected integrity requirements and standards, as well as to be able to deal with integrity challenges they may encounter in their future workplace. Indeed, higher education provides a good opportunity to consolidate knowledge and skills in integrity, ethics and anti-corruption as the preliminary stage before entering the labour force (Munro and Kirya, 2020[31]). Additionally, ensuring that institutions that train future leaders promote the values and behaviours necessary to combat corruption as part of their educational programmes is fundamental to building a pool of ethical public officials and private employees (Munro and Kirya, 2020[31]).
To that end, universities in Ecuador could consider developing and integrating courses on public integrity and anti-corruption into undergraduate and graduate degree programmes in order to strengthen public integrity education before university students start their working life. Given the autonomous nature of higher education institutions in Ecuador, SENESCYT does not have jurisdiction over undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Therefore, including public integrity and anti-corruption content into degree programmes is the responsibility of each university.
However, to strengthen the approach to public integrity and anti-corruption issues among university students and to foster a minimum degree of homogeneity in public integrity education, SENESCYT and the Higher Education Council (Consejo de Educación Superior) could consider issuing general guidelines and recommendations to Ecuadorian universities to guide the development and integration of such concepts in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. This, considering that SENESCYT and the Higher Education Council have powers related to strengthening the higher education system. In particular, SENESCYT's mission is to “exercise the steering role of public policy on higher education, science, technology, innovation and ancestral knowledge...” (Government of Ecuador, 2020[32]) and the Higher Education Council “has as its main purpose to plan, regulate and co-ordinate the Higher Education System, and the relationship between its different actors with the Executive Function and the Ecuadorian society; in order to guarantee to all citizens a quality Higher Education that contributes to the growth of the country" (Higher Education Council, n.d.[33]), while respecting university autonomy.
Evidence has shown that integrating public integrity into university curricula exposes students to a range of ethical issues and dilemmas, helping to improve their ethical sensitivity, a critical component in triggering the ethical decision-making process (Martinov-Bennie and Mladenovic, 2015[34]). Although the content of these courses should be adapted to the specific needs and risks of the different professions/careers, as a first step towards public integrity education for university students, universities could develop modules as part of general induction courses. This would ensure minimum coverage of education for integrity for all university students. An example of this approach is the induction course of the IAEN’s School of Government and Public Administration (Box 3.5). Additionally, universities could consider the inclusion of experiential and immersive learning techniques when developing their general induction courses (Christensen et al., 2007[35]), in order to give students the opportunity to experience and practice with different ethical considerations and dilemmas, strengthening the learning process and preparing them to deal with possible future situations that they main encounter in the workplace.
Box 3.5. IAEN’s School of Government and Public Administration Induction Course
In early 2022, IAEN’s School of Government and Public Administration developed and implemented an induction course on ethics and public integrity for all students enrolled in the School of Government and Public Administration. The course is offered twice a year, at the beginning of each academic semester, lasts 2 hours and is voluntary. However, the aim is to extend its coverage to all IAEN students and make it compulsory.
Other universities have already shown interest in the induction course on ethics and public integrity designed by the IAEN’s School of Government and Public Administration and have initiated approaches to explore the possibility of adapting it in their own institutions.
Source: Interviews during the fact-finding mission.
Moreover, universities in Ecuador could consider developing and implementing more specialised courses, seminars and workshops in areas adjacent to public integrity to promote values, capacities and skills in their students that strengthen their responsibility to public integrity. These courses, seminars and workshops can be addressed to the whole academic community or to students of specific degree programmes, depending on their content and purpose. To this end, Ecuadorian universities could consider establishing alliances with other educational centres and with CSOs with experience in these issues. An example of a course that could be implemented by universities as part of the themes adjacent to public integrity is the course DesenreDatos (Box 3.6).
Box 3.6. Promoting the culture of open data and transparency among university students
DesenreDatos is an awareness-raising and training project on journalism, transparency and open data in Ecuador implemented by the DW Akademie, which makes part of the Ecuador SinCero Programme of the German Technical Co-operation GIZ and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development. The purpose of this project is to contribute to Ecuadorian society's progress towards transparency and the fight against corruption.
The DesenreDatos project developed a 4-week virtual training process for journalists, members of CSOs and government officials working with public data, aimed at providing tools to learn, discuss and support the analysis, visualisation and publication of public data. Sixty-eight people from the journalism, CSO and State sectors participated in the training process, which consists of different modules:
Open government and the Ecuadorian legal framework
Data search, analysis and visualisation for journalists
Citizen briefing for CSOs and public officials
Gender and data
In addition, the DesenreDatos Festival was held, with the main objective of promoting a culture of open data and transparency among university students. As part of this festival, keynote lectures, a project fair and a hackathon (visualisation challenge) took place.
Source: https://www.desenredatos.com/.
3.3.5. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation could consider collecting information related to public integrity and anti-corruption research
Interviews during the fact-finding mission evidenced that there is currently no complete and reliable information on ongoing research on public integrity and anti-corruption nor an inventory of research groups, researchers and academics with expertise in this area. This information is the starting point for any initiative that seeks to strengthen co-operation between public entities and universities, research centres and academic researchers with the aim of strengthening the evidence base for integrity and anti-corruption decision making.
Moreover, considering the low level of public trust in public institutions, independent academic research can be a way to strengthen the processes of gathering information on the challenges related to integrity and the fight against corruption in Ecuadorian society (see also Section 3.2) and to demonstrate that the State’s efforts to promote a culture of integrity and fight against corruption are real. However, the academic independence of those co-operating with the State as well as their suitability to carry out this important task must be guaranteed.
To this end, SENESCYT could consider gathering information related to ongoing research, with an emphasis on public integrity and anti-corruption research - including who is investigating and on what specific issues. This as a first step to promote and strengthen independent academic research on public integrity and the fight against corruption. To carry out this inventory, SENESCYT could consider the example of the Colombian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, MINCTI) (Box 3.7).
Box 3.7. Colombia’s SCIENTI Platform
In Colombia, the MINCTI has the ScienTI platform, the international network of information and knowledge sources for science, technology and innovation management. It systematically collects the knowledge, experience and scientific output of all individuals, groups and institutions involved in research, innovation and technological development activities.
The most important modules of the ScienTI Network are:
CvLAC: an application where the curriculum vitae of the people registered in the ScienTI platform are registered. MINCTI can recognise them as researchers (if they meet the requirements) or typify their curriculum as members of a research group.
GrupLAC: an online application for filling in and updating information on Science, Technology and Innovation research groups.
InstituLAC: an application whose purpose is to build a complete and organised computer base, where the information of the institutions to which the groups, researchers and journals are linked can be registered.
Moreover, as part of the consultation services offered by this platform there is the tool “Science and Technology for All”, which is used to consult information filed in the databases that collect all the information on the curricula vitae of Colombian researchers (CvLAC) and resumes of research groups (GrupLAC), as well as the tool “Science in figures”.
Source: https://minciencias.gov.co/scienti.
Notes
← 1. The regional average includes information from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
← 2. The regional average includes information from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
← 3. The regional average on interpersonal trust includes information from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.