CHRAJ to initiate Schools Integrity Project to combat corruption

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has initiated School Integrity Project (SIP) as a tool to combat corruption from lower levels of education.

The Project is aimed at incentivising schools to actively engage in innovative programmes that will build integrity, discipline and patriotism in students and create an ethical environment for nurturing students into good citizens.

Mr Richard Quayson, CHRAJ's Deputy Commissioner, told the Ghana News Agency that the SIP initiative captured under National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) sought to build public capacity to condemn, fight corruption and make the practice a high risk and low gain activity.

He was speaking as part of the 2021 Anti-Corruption and Transparency (ACT) and the International Anti–Corruption Day (IACD) week.

Mr Quayson said the initiative would also give effect to the mission of the NACAP to mobilize efforts and resources to prevent and eradicate corruption.

He emphasised that the initiative was to build public capacity to condemn and fight corruption and make its practice a high risk and low gain activity.

He said to stimulate healthy competition among schools and students a reward of GHC200,000.00 would be awarded to the most successful school while GHC100,000.00 and GHC50,000.00 would be given to the first and the second runner-up respectively.

He said in addition seven consolation prizes of GHC20,000.00 would be awarded to other schools that performed well.

Touching on awards for the students or pupils, Mr Quayson stated that GHC15,000.00 would be awarded to the most successful student or pupil while GHC7,500.00 and GHC3,000.00 would go to the first and second runner-up respectively.

There will be ten consolation prizes of GHC1,000.00 each and other awards, including scholarships.

He explained that schools and students would ensure that their operations were transparent, ethical and accountable, adding that they must have innovative programmes in place for building Integrity and patriotism among students or pupils and also exhibit integrity and ethical behaviour.

Mr Quayson said that the participants must have a good understanding of ethics, integrity and have innovative ideas on how they could affect their peers, schools, families, and communities to be ethical and develop integrity and a lot more.