Corruption and poor governance are acknowledged as major impediments to realizing the right to education and to reaching the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2015. Corruption not only distorts access to education, but affects the quality of education and the reliability of research findings. From corruption in the procurement of school resources and nepotism in the hiring of teachers, to the buying and selling of academic titles and the skewing of research results, major corruption risks can be identified at every level of the education and research systems. Conversely, education serves as a means to strengthen personal integrity and is a critical tool to address corruption effectively.

The Global Corruption Report (GCR) is Transparency International's flagship publication, bringing the expertise of the anti-corruption movement to bear on a specific corruption issue or sector. The Global Corruption Report on education consists of more than 70 articles commissioned from experts in the fields of corruption and education, from universities, think-tanks, business, civil society and international organisations.

The Global Corruption Report on education and academic research will provide essential analysis for understanding the corruption risks in the sector and highlight the significant work that has already been done in the field to improve governance and educational outcomes. This will be an opportunity to pull together cutting edge knowledge on lessons learnt, innovative tools and solutions that exist in order to fight corruption in the education sector.