Over 3,105 pupils have been enrolled in Integrity Clubs in 19 selected basic schools across the country.
The Integrity Clubs aims at providing training on anti-corruption mechanisms to equip school children with knowledge as part of measures to reduce the level of corruption in society.
The enrolment of the pupils is part of the activities of the Interfaith Shaping Hearts, Attitudes and Mindset to End Corruption in Ghana (I-SHAME Corruption in Ghana) project being implemented by the Forum for Actions on Inclusion, Transparency and Harmony (FAITH), an innovative alliance of faith-based organisations.
Addressing a news conference on Wednesday, Mr Samuel Zan Akologo, the Executive Secretary of Caritas Ghana and the Convener of the Forum, said the 2018 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International credited Ghana with a marginal improvement adding that it must inspire all anti-corruption activists to remain engaged so that there could be sustained positive outcome of consistent in corruption in Ghana.
Mr Akologo said, as part of the I-SHAME Corruption in Ghana project, the forum had developed a model curriculum of lessons on anti-corruption for school pupils titled: “Manual for Training Basic School Children on Anti-Corruption (August, 2018).”
He said the forum had also trained a core group of 20 teachers as coordinators and facilitators of students in their learning in anti-corruption.
He said the Interfaith Forum had established an effective partnership with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to address the canker of corruption in a sustainable manner.
Mr Akologo said with the partnership of the NCCE, the regional directors are conducting regular assessments of learning outcomes of the students using debates, quizzes, discussions and essays.
He said: “We hope that the I-SHAME Corruption in Ghana project model will eventually be mainstreamed into the Basic School Curriculum by the GES and the Ministry of Education.”
Mr Johnson Opoku, the Director of Programmes at the NCCE, urged the media to assist in the prevention of corruption by educating the public rather than waiting on the negative impacts of corrupts practices.
He said the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) has threefold approach to fighting corruption, which are preventive, education and law enforcement adding that the first two were control mechanisms to prevent corruption.
He said there was the need for the media to pay more attention to creating the needed awareness for the individual to desist from engaging in corrupt practices.
Mrs Cynthia Tagoe, the Head of Legal Unit of GES, said the Service would abide by the NACAP recommendation by incorporating the issue of corruption into their curriculum.
She said to combat corruption in the country, it was important that school children were taught what constituted corruption and the need to shun away from it.
