In an effort to engage the youth in the fight against corruption, National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NaCCA) and LeadAfrique International have organised stakeholders meeting today January 22 to discuss how to facilitate and promote integrity and anti-corruption behaviour amongst the youth.
The discussion presented opportunities for state institutions, civil society organisations and development partners to provide ways of instilling a high sense of integrity and ethical behaviour at the basic level among citizens especially the youth
With regards to that, a National curriculum has been introduced for Ghanaian students from Junior to the Senior level under the Basics in Anti-Corruption Education Project (BACE); a two-year programme designed to understand corruption, its nature, impacts and how to avoid it.
Speaking at the gathering, Deputy Director-General of Ghana Education Service (GES) in charge of Quality and Access, Dr Kwabena Bempah Tandoh explained that the newly designed basic education curriculum holds the key to effectively address corruption issues efficiently.
He added that inculcating integrity in basic learners and providing them with the requisite infrastructure and awareness would make them functional citizens to contribute to the attainment of national development goals.
Dr Tandoh also made a suggestion asking organisers of the project to extend the 2-year Basics in Anti-Corruption Education Project (BACE) to five years.
This according to him would enable students and teachers to be adequately equipped with the rich academic and practical focus of the project.
“We want people who who would run the affairs of this country to be morally upright and full of integrity. My thoughts is that the program should go beyond two years because it’s obviously not going to be enough. Let’s look at an opportunity to integrate it into our school system right from the director general’s office to the students. Our interest is that it becomes part and parcel of what we do as a service. If you look at our society majority of us are not engaging in everyday corrupt activities but it has overshadowed us so much that it begins to feel normal,” He asserted
Founder for LeadAfrique International, Michael Ohene-Effah also indicated that as part of the implementation process, series of engagements have been planned to take place across the country with major stakeholders to ensure all relevant issues regarding the anti-corruption project is captured
He also established that teachers themselves would be trained to encourage and champion the fight against corruption in their students at the basic level.