ACC Convey Integrity Messages to School Pupils on Day of African Child.

Pupils from various schools at the engagement

By Alex A. Bah – Communications Officer, ACC

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has on 16th June, 2022, engaged over pupils from various schools in the Western Area in commemoration of the Day of the African Child. The engagement took place at the Cathedral Hall in Freetown and it brought together members of Integrity Clubs set up by the ACC in schools, teachers and school authorities to discuss issues of integrity, examination malpractices, among others

Giving the welcome address, Deputy Commissioner of the ACC, Augustine Foday Ngobie, gave a brief history of the day, noting that the children of South Africa were very instrumental in taking action against injustice and bad governance, which are the upshot of corruption. “You are expected to stand up for what is right, no matter the consequence,” he said whilst encouraging the pupils to support the anti-corruption cause.

Chairing the occasion, Director of Public Education and External Outreach, Patrick Sandi, encouraged the pupils to commit themselves to the cause of fighting corruption. He noted that poverty is never an incentive to engage in corruption, and that a person can be rich and still be corrupt.

There was a panel discussion on the topic ‘The Impact of Examination Malpractices on the Attainment of Quality Education: Ways Forward’ moderated by journalist Samuel Wise Bangura of the AYV Television.

During the panel discussion, Jammie Victoria Sankoh, Public Relations Manager of the Teaching Service Commission, described integrity as a personal value, adding that low salaries should never be an incentive for corruption. “We have grown up seeing teachers that earn way less than what most teachers earn now, yet they prided themselves in upholding integrity, while at the same time they respected the code that guides their profession,” she added.

“If we uphold the values of integrity, then we can eliminate examination malpractices,” Tamba Deen Kamara, Head of Communications, Civil Rights Coalition, also noted whilst underscoring the dangers of examination malpractice and the importance of sanitizing the education sector.

A question and answer session climaxed the engagement.

L-R: Tamaba Deen Kamara, Head of Communications, Civil Rights Coalition; Jammie Victoria Sankoh, Public Relations Manager, Teaching Service Commission; Antoniette Horton, Principal, JSS, Annie Walsh Memorial School; Augustine Foday Ngobie, Deputy Commissioner, ACC; Patrick Sandi, Director, PEOD, ACC; Samuel Wise Bangura, of AYV Television