Workshop held on corruption in schools

Mr. Balado Manu in the Chairman of Parliamentary Select Committee on Education in Ghana

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday April 3, 2007
A workshop to develop a code of conduct to combat corruption in schools in the West African sub-region has commenced in Accra.

The two-day event, organized by the International Campaign for Corruption-Free Schools (ICCS), is being attended by representatives of all the countries in the West Africa sub-region, as well as the ECOWAS Secretariat in Abuja, Nigeria.

The campaign to kick out corrupt practices in schools was started by the ICCS in November 2003, in Accra and subsequently launched in all the other West African counties.

It is seeking to focus on school children by sensitizing them on the dangers of corruption in society.

The code of conduct has been designed for all stakeholders in schools including students, teachers administrators and parent/guardians and is expected to be adopted and recommended to all governments in the sub-region.

Opening the workshop in Accra yesterday, Kwaku Balado-Manu, Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education said “what you have started should be intensified because your target group will surely grow to hate corruption and will facilitate the development of our countries.”

He said the time had come for teachers and other stakeholders of educational development to instill in students good moral values to ensure a corrupt free society.

Mrs Aryelina Baiden-Amissah, a Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Sports in a keynote address noted that since the scourge of corruption posed a threat to the development of the country there is the need for collaboration to combat it.

She said “while corrupt practices in businesses and sadly, politics are well-known realities, the recent upsurge of corruption in the education sector is a new phenomenon which is an alarming development.”

She added that the damage of corruption goes beyond economic and administrative set ups to tarnish the reputation of the educational institutions.

Mr Baffour Dokyi Amoah, Chairman of the ICCS, in his opening remarks said the initiative was fully supported by the Christian Councils and Churches in the sub-region and it had had a positive impact on all areas targeted.

He said the coalition will support every effort to incorporate the code of conduct in mainstream policies of the various countries to ensure successful implementation.

Mr Brown Ogidie, a representative from the ECOWAS Secretariat, said the commission is committed to supporting the initiative to ensure corrupt free schools in the sub-region.

Mr Francois Mercie, a representative of Bread For All, an organisation from Switzerland, and sponsors of the workshop, said the effort to combat corruption should be a concern for all stakeholders of development.