Cape Verde’s School Recipe for Fighting Corruption
Cape Verde is currently the highest-ranked member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) on the global corruption perception index. According to the nation’s National Director of Education, Adriano Fernandes, that success starts in the classroom—but not through textbooks alone.
Speaking at a recent roundtable hosted at the CPLP headquarters, Fernandes argued that concepts like citizenship, ethics, and integrity only yield real results when they move beyond the syllabus and become part of a school’s “culture.”
Beyond the Classroom: Live Values
In Cape Verde, citizenship education is treated as a “transversal subject,” meaning it is integrated into every curricular area from the 1st to the 12th grade. However, Fernandes emphasized that the archipelago’s strategy relies heavily on experiential learning. Students are encouraged to “live the values” through active participation in student associations, volunteer projects, community service, environmental campaigns, and conflict mediation.
“We believe that education for integrity must be experienced daily in school and not just through a set of concepts taught in a curricular subject,” Fernandes stated during the launch of the Portuguese-language tools for the Global Resource for Anti-Corruption Education and Youth Empowerment (GRACE) initiative.
Leading by Example
A critical pillar of this cultural shift is the behavior of school staff and management. Fernandes noted that students are highly observant of the adults around them, and their trust in these values depends on the honesty of their environment.
“Integrity is also learned through institutional practices,” Fernandes said. “When students observe transparency, respect, and responsibility in the school’s own management, these values become more credible and significant.”
The director also highlighted the importance of digital literacy in the modern age, noting that Cape Verdean schools are working to empower students to think critically, identify misinformation, and use social media responsibly.
Leading the Lusophone World
The push for integrity in schools aligns with Cape Verde’s strong performance on the international stage. According to the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Cape Verde scored 62 out of 100, making it the top-ranked CPLP nation.
The index, which measures perceived levels of public sector corruption, showed a significant gap between member states. Portugal followed Cape Verde with a score of 56. All other CPLP nations scored below the 50-point mark, including East Timor (45), São Tomé and Príncipe (43), Brazil (35), and Angola (32). Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau (21) and Equatorial Guinea (15) rounded out the lower end of the scale.
The launch of the GRACE initiative tools—a partnership between the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the CPLP—aims to provide educational resources that will help other Portuguese-speaking nations follow Cape Verde’s lead in fostering a culture of transparency among the youth.
Image: Pexels – RDNE Stock project
