How to make education integrity and instill integrity values in schoolchildren was discussed at the Integrity for Education forum on December 12. The event was held for the second time and brought together more than 100 participants, including educators, parents, schoolchildren, and experts from the international, public, and civil society sectors. The main goal of the event was to discuss achievements, challenges and prospects for introducing integrity in secondary education.
“The Transparent School project is one of the most successful educational projects implemented by the NACP Integrity Office, which has already brought together more than 620 schools from 21 regions of the country. Our goal is to disseminate the ideas and values embedded in the project, in particular at integrity lessons in all schools in Ukraine. This is how we work together to build openness and trust in education, and most importantly, to change the minds of students and teachers. This is a good investment in the future, but it is a long journey involving many parties, including managers, educators, parents and students. In addition, integrity in education is an important element of transparency, openness and good resource management practices,” said Serhii Hupiak, Deputy Head of the NACP.
Allan Pagh Kristensen, Head of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI), noted that educators face extraordinary challenges in this difficult time and bear a lot of responsibility: not only teaching, but also the safety of children and support in difficult times.
“It all starts with a new generation and new ideas. Integrity and corruption are a matter of values and culture. Integrity cannot be learned by taking a course or reading a book. And teaching values should be one of the most difficult topics for a teacher. The EU Anti-Corruption Initiative supports the NACP in implementing best educational practices, as well as supports the development and implementation of educational programs in schools and universities,” added Allan Pagh Kristensen.
“NACP's Integrity Office is actively working to make integrity the new normal. In secondary and higher education institutions, as well as in society. To this end, we are implementing several projects aimed at developing educational materials and transforming the educational environment. After all, education plays an important role in upbringing and shaping values,” said Iryna Tymchenko, Head of the Integrity Office.
Roman Hryshchuk, Member of Parliament of Ukraine, noted that integrity is something that cannot be taught at school. It is formed by the example of a teacher. Corruption will be fought not by state institutions, but by education, because it is at school that behavioral factors are laid down. Therefore, in his opinion, the NACP should work more with schools and teachers.
The event featured panel discussions, including
- The role of stakeholders in building integrity, where they discussed challenges and achievements in implementing integrity at all levels of education;
- educators as the key to integrity, where pedagogical staff shared their experience of implementing integrity principles in schools;
- parent community as a partner in creating a virtuous educational environment, where the issue of cooperation between parents and schools was raised;
- students as a driving force for integrity, where students presented their ideas and initiatives to improve integrity in schools.
During the workshops, participants gained practical skills and tools for implementing integrity principles in the educational process.
In particular, the master class “Integrity in the Classroom: Authoring Educational Content” was conducted by teachers. In particular, Vitaliy Hladun, senior lecturer at the Mykolaiv Regional Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education, co-author of the Pro Integrity manual, and deputy director of the specialized school No. 207 with in-depth study of English in the Desnianskyi district of Kyiv, Daria Demchuk-Marygina, co-author of the textbook, Ukrainian language teacher at the Kyiv Lyceum “Educator”, one of the 50 best teachers in the world according to the Global Teacher Prize 2023, Liudmyla Tabolina, and Oksana Zahorodnia, deputy director of the Vinnytsia Lyceum №20. The educators presented their own materials and methods to help teach students the values of integrity and anti-corruption education.
The authors of the best practices on integrity for use in the educational process, which were included in the Collection of Best Practices on this topic, were awarded.
The event was organized by the NACP's Integrity Office with the support of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative, a leading anti-corruption program funded by the European Union and co-funded and implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.
For more information. The Integrity for Education Forum is an annual event that serves as a platform for establishing partnerships between educators, students and parent communities, and stakeholders, laying the foundation for long-term cooperation in building integrity in education in Ukraine.
The video is available at the link
