Representatives of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) met with educators and students of the region during a working visit to Ternopil. The goal was to encourage them to become more involved in the projects of the NACP's Integrity Office aimed at integrating anti-corruption and integrity into the educational process.
Ternopil region is currently underrepresented in these educational initiatives. So far, 20 schools in the region (2.5%) have joined the Transparent School project and 2 out of 14 universities (14%) have joined the Transparent Universities project. Anti-Corruption and Integrity has been launched at Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University and Western Ukrainian National University (WUNU).
"Over the past year, 70 more Ukrainian educational institutions have joined the Transparent Universities project, and more than 8,000 students are already studying the discipline of Anti-Corruption and Integrity. Why is it important for us to work with young people? Because young people believe in the possibility of change and are not afraid to act. We conducted a survey involving more than 30,000 young people. And the results are truly inspiring: 79% of respondents are convinced that corruption can be overcome, and 84% are ready to actively fight it. At the same time, many do not know how to do this. That is why we pay considerable attention to anti-corruption education,” said Deputy Head of the NACP Serhii Hupiak during a meeting at TNPU.
He noted the activity of this university in implementing the Transparent Universities project and presented the corresponding award to the first vice-rector of the university, Nadiya Drobyk.
Viktoriia Skorobohata, an expert from the NACP Integrity Office, gave a lecture on anti-corruption and integrity to TNPU students. Participants learned about the perception of corruption in society, international transparency rankings, Ukraine's place among other EU accession candidates, and the activities of anti-corruption agencies in the country. They also discussed the principles of inevitability of punishment, the basics of financial control - verification of property declarations and monitoring of officials' lifestyles - as well as measures to build integrity in public institutions. To better understand the issues, the students analyzed real-life corruption cases. The class was held in an interesting format with interactive exercises and polls, and the most active participants received gifts.
At the Western Ukrainian National University, a meeting with representatives of higher and vocational schools in the region discussed their key role in shaping the worldview of young people and introducing integrity in education.
"The issue of preventing corruption is multidimensional, but we need to start by explaining what corruption is, why it is bad, what negative consequences it has, and how to prevent it. If these basic things are laid down in adolescence, they will yield results for our new generations, who will begin to reject any possibility of participating in corrupt practices,” said Serhii Hupiak.
The educators discussed mechanisms to reduce corrupt practices in education, and Viktoriia Skorobohata presented the NACP Integrity Office's Transparent Universities project, which educational institutions can join.
“We are transforming the educational environment by creating conditions to avoid corruption risks, explaining to all participants in the educational process how they can participate in the fight against corruption at the societal level, starting with personal responsibility and compliance with ethical standards,” said Mykola Dyvak, Vice-Rector for Research at ZUNU.
According to Viktor Ostroverkhov, Vice-Rector for Scientific and Pedagogical Work of the University, as part of the Transparent Universities project, the discipline “Anti-Corruption and Integrity” is studied by applicants for a master's degree in law.
It should be noted that the Transparent Universities project consists of several components: the introduction of the university discipline “Anti-Corruption and Integrity,” free online courses to build the capacity of teachers, and the transformation of the educational environment based on transparency and integrity based on specially developed methodological recommendations. More information about the NACP's educational initiatives can be found on the Study.NACP educational platform and the Facebook page of the NACP Integrity Office.
