Corruption in MINEDH linked to errors in school textbooks, according to GCCC
The errors found in school textbooks, reported in May 2022, are potentially a result of corruption by about ten senior officials of the Ministry of Education and Human Development (MINEDH), as alleged by the Central Office for Combating Corruption (GCCC). The GCCC has already formulated charges against ten individuals involved in this scandal.
According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, there are indications of active and passive corruption, fraud, abuse of office or function, and payment of undue remunerations.
The Tower has learned that these illicit acts stemmed from findings such as false information favoring unqualified individuals in the conception and creation of school textbooks, violation of public procurement norms, non-compliance with the phases of manual evaluation, requests by MINEDH employees for improper payments or sponsorships to publishers, receipt of gifts, and payment of undue remunerations.
It is reported that nine of the ten accused are responding to the process while on bail, under Term of Identity and Residence.
Although the involved publisher is not identified, the GCCC states that an independent process has been initiated for further investigations domestically and abroad, focusing on this scandal and aiming to criminally hold more potential participants accountable.
Following the complaint in August 2022, a MINEDH inquiry commission pointed to negligence by Porto Editora as one of the causes of serious errors in the 6th-grade primary school textbooks in the country.
