The Public Education and Outreach Unit of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Northern Region office has empowered teachers and pupils of Ahmadiyya Nusrat Secondary School in Masingbi to resist, reject, and report corruption to the ACC. In what is dubbed as Meet-the-School Campaign, conducted on March 21, 2023, the engagement is one of the several strategies employed by the ACC to nurse a strong moral capital in pupils and teachers in the country to repel and detest corruption.
Addressing the pupils, ACC’s Senior Public Education Officer, Abdul Karim Bangura, underscored the importance of education in an advancing world of science and technology and the Government’s commitment to deliver on its free quality school education flagship programme. He assured them that with sound education they could make a better living and significant contributions to nation building. But he advised, it would only be plausible if the pupils took school work responsibly and refrained from corruption within the school.
Mr Bangura highlighted incidences of corruption in schools such as examination malpractices, theft or sales of teaching and learning materials, deliberate damage to school property, sex for trades, among others. These, and other forms of corruption, distort the normal school administration and subsequently, dampens the aspirations of the pupils. This would eventually lead to a high level of dropouts and an increased number of uneducated youth in the country,’ the officer lamented adding, ‘This is why we should see corruption as a serious threat to our nation and future and actively support the ACC.’
The school was also informed about the stance of the ACC on examination malpractice which, according to Aiah Sourie, Public Education Officer ACC, is stipulated as an offence in the Anti-Corruption Act of 2008 as amended in 2019. The provision in the said Act clearly states that, anyone who corruptly engages in a programme conducted by an educational institution or examination body ‘to confer an advantage on himself or another person, commits an offense’ and on conviction is liable ‘to a fine not less than Fifty Million (Old) Leones or to imprisonment for a term not less than five years or both such fine and imprisonment.’ Sourie furthered that the provision is not lame as the Commission had its first conviction for the offence of examination malpractice in the High Court in Makeni last year.
He entreated the pupils to wean themselves off practices that would scotch their chances of acquiring quality education, and to come to school regularly and punctually and participate actively in the learning process. This would require discipline and self-confidence, Sourie emphasized. He further urged them to report corruption to the ACC using the Africel network 077-985-985 or 077-986-986 assuring them of the Commission’s premium on confidentiality and the protection of whistle blowers.
In a separate but related meeting, the ACC team encouraged the teachers to adhere to the values of their profession and serve as exemplars to the pupils and communities they live in.
Prevention Officer of the ACC, Lathiff Sesay, called the school leaders to follow the systems and processes–the bolts and knots –of the administration of the school in order to achieve optimal performance of the pupils in public examinations coupled with the moulding of their attitudes and behaviours.
Mohamed Muctar Bah, Principal of Ahmadiyya Nusrat Islamic Secondary School in Masingbi, thanked the ACC for the engagement and pledged that he and his teachers would work professionally to help Government in its drive to provide free quality education to the pupils in the school.
He appointed Alpha Dauda Bangura to serve as the Teacher Coordinator for the School’s Integrity Club, which had been established based on ACC recommendation.
