We always talk about corruption in Arab societies, but as columnists and critics we are forgetting to create awareness about the importance of spreading an anti-corruption culture through school curricula in terms of: The concept of corruption and its definition; reasons for the prevalence of corruption; using media to fight corruption; combating corruption by legal means; and learning lessons from this issue.
This is an extremely important issue, and maintaining silence and not persuading people to convey the correct message about corruption are among the main reasons for the prevalence of this phenomenon in our society.
Curriculum developers are responsible of introducing an anti-corruption culture in our schools, colleges and universities, and for explaining the phenomenon of corruption—who is behind it, how it takes place, types of corruption, and how to combat all forms of corruption. We see corruption increasing everywhere, but we are not doing anything to stop it using all possible legal means.
We should not overlook or underestimate the issue of corruption, which is a widespread ailment in our society, especially when we realise that corruption exists in parliaments, ministries, financial institutions, government and private agencies, as well as universities.
This is why inclusion of anti-corruption lessons in our curricula at all levels of education – in schools, colleges and universities—has become necessary to curb all forms of corruption. There is an urgent need to raise student’s awareness about the negative effects of corruption. Our new generations are capable of combating corruption, which can hinder our national plans for economic development.
The prevalence of corruption in any place makes it unattractive for investors. Not only this, corruption can hamper economic, social and cultural
development.
This is why there is need for cooperation and coordination between educational institutions and transparency and anti-corruption agencies in the region for developing strategies to combat this malaise.
