Zawaya

Anti-corruption education in the curriculum: Long-term plan for hasty people

By: Mohamed Yehdih Ould Baba Ahmed

The Arab Spring revolutions have greatly contributed to the activation of civil and governmental organizations seeking to establish transparency in the management of public affairs, and fight corruption and the corrupt. In Morocco, for instance, the Central Authority for the Prevention of Corruption is currently trying to find ways to incorporate ethics and anti-corruption education into the curriculum.

This raises several questions related to the efficiency of these and other measures, and whether they can successfully promote principles of integrity and accountability.

There are already many shortcomings in the curricular materials, so can they still change the mindsets of old generations (teachers) who got used to corruption, and new ones (students) who are growing up in an environment marked by corrupt practices?

Wouldn’t it be more useful to focus on prevention by providing citizens with electronic public utility services? This will eliminate all chances of contact between citizens and public utility service providers who ask for bribery.

We will tackle all these questions based on the following dimensions:

1 – The legal dimension: To prevent corruption in the Maghreb, we should: enact laws that criminalize this phenomenon; conduct awareness and mobilization campaigns for citizens on the danger of corruption as a crime that causes many victims; enact a law that protects whistle-blowers who denounce bribe takers and givers; ensure strict equality between citizens in public utilities; and provide public services with impartiality and transparency.

2 – The social dimension: Unequal access to public funds by citizens; the low per capita income of individuals and simple employees in most developing countries, which are for the majority a fertile ground for corruption; the complexities of urban life; the absence of social justice; and the prevailing bureaucracy, are all factors that push citizens to pay bribes, and employees to accept them.

3- The educational dimension: The Central Authority for the Prevention of Corruption is partnering with Moroccan schools to incorporate anti-corruption ethics in the curriculum. This plan can yield positive results in the long run, if we bear in mind that bribery is a phenomenon that marked the upbringing of citizens in these countries, as the easiest way to obtain their rights and even grab those of others. As the saying goes: “Give and spend, and God will send”. This indicates the existence of an unexpected reversed relationship between citizens who represent the employer, and public service providers who represent the employees. What’s even worse is that Maghreb citizens are unaware of the rules of access to public utility services, let alone the slow pace of administrative procedures.

Finally, incorporating anti-corruption ethics in the curriculum to educate an honest, future generation is a mere practical long-term plan for citizens who are in a hurry.