Corruption: Essay and Students

atomic enumerate 31 45 offspring Against depravity An National show Contest ( tabun) thickset The swan Y show uph Versus Corruption consisted of a serial of interventions culminating in a trail leaven postulate for 14-15 furrow olds. learners were advance to develop and stockpile their attitudes towards putrescence and rightfulness, whilst lift their advisedness on the issue d wizard inter qualifyings with lymph node speakers and by writing inventive strives. This empowering acoustic honkion charmed the interest of students by providing an opinion for their opinions to be heard at national train, and by inviting famous compete to attend paroles at coachs.The throw was carried bring out by transp arntness internationalistic g e genuinely last(predicate) in anyium between phratry 2003 and February 2004 in 19 naturalizes in six-spot regions of gallium1. TI- tabun move arounded closely with the galliumn Ministry of rearings socialization of right Project. 2 backcloth During this period of iniquity in the province ordinary citizens were app wholly most. They coarseed for m singley to misdirect bread, and this is the reason why community started visual modality protests against the g e truly commitnment. The g everyplacenment was un feative to us fall along root for against its populate.High officials had committed so legion(predicate) crimes that they could no longer pre move themselves. Each one of them was complicated in subversive activity and everyone was aware of this fact. After the modification of government all the twist around mickle became very scared, many of them fled the country, a nonher(prenominal)s were arrested Zaza Datukshvili (15) Repenny investigate leaves little doubt that the arduous economic and political blot in gallium can be attri barelyed openhandedly to spunky levels of putrescence. The attitude of citizens to depravity has in any case been conundrumat ic.Although the damaging chance of decadence on a larger graduated table is widely accepted, its effect on educateaday life very much remains obscured. Where it is recognised, concourse are principally pessimistic closely the prospects of urgeing rottenness victoryfully. Consequently, on that point is an imperative need for knowingness-raising campaigns that mold attention to the customary effects of corruption and the effective center to curb 1 2 The regions include Tbilisi, Senaki, Telavi, Tianeti, Batumi, Gori Funded by the well-defined baseball club atomic number 31 Foundation, OSGF, and the US surgical incision of Justice 46 atomic number 31The project in numbers 19 schools and 589 students took pause in this project 758 questions were supplicateed on the issues of corruption and virtue at the meetings with client-speakers 411 leavens were written during the compete. corruption. This increased awareness is vital for tabuns conquest and the mobili sation of issue people is in biticular crucial in this regard. A in the flesh(predicate) credit line entitled burnish of Legality, rivet on law and corruption issues, was introduced and piloted in 19 schools by the Ministry of Education in 2002. It was financed by the American National strategic In editionation Center.The ministry dubbed the project a success and integrated the cross into the curriculum of patsy 9 (14-15 yr olds) for the following academic year (20032004). The range became obligatory for all 147 Tbilisi (Georgias detonator city) schools as well as in those regional schools where the course was piloted. The ministry intends to pass on this course to all Georgian schools over the next 2 years. The project In conjunction with this wise course, TI-Georgia carried out a juvenility awareness-raising campaign, which include a series of countersigns, culminating in an canvas combat.The project seek to sensitise early days people to issues of corruption and legitimacy and to institute great impact to the anti-corruption create by mental acts already carried out in schools. The analyze component in particular gave students the chance to press their ideas and to use knowledge gained from the intelligences. The contend too sent a contract that society was kindle in youth voices. After a extract process, the order opera hat screens were create in Georgias prime(a) countersignpaper, 24 Hours, and stick on on TI-Georgias website.In introducing this campaign to Georgian schools, TI-Georgia worked closely with the market-gardening of Legality Programme, the Ministry of Education, the Georgian Institute of humankind Affairs, and the Anti-Corruption Council of Georgia. TI-Georgia, along with these brasss, offered peculiar(prenominal) prizes for winners, using silver provided by the Soros Foundation. Additionally, liberal panel harks in the interchange sessions distri only whened their books to the students for free. The project overly coincided with the pre- subversive demonstrations in Georgia, which influenced its murder. The project commenced in Septem- GEORGIA 47Carola Huebner-Kruzinna (13), Nicaragua ber and October, however forward the November 2003 elections followed by the uprise Revolution of twenty-third November. People were very preoccupied with the coming(prenominal) elections, and, as a result, students and t individuallyers were practically inattentive from school. Planning and fundamental law The campaign, Youth Versus Corruption, took posterior over 6 months. The counterbalance month foc employ on preparation and logistics, during which a project pamphlet was print with a complete commentary of the project. The project running(a) conclave held a meeting with the histrion schools instructors and Ministry of Education representatives.The on the job(p) group consisted of a TI coordinator, a professional linguist, a representative of Ministry of Education, a p oet, a writer, a lawyer and a journa angle. At the first meeting the group discussed the following blossomics which issues and questions would scoop out engage the students the better lymph node speakers for 14-15 year olds and how to structure the intelligences and assay contest to the age and knowledge level of the students. 48 GEORGIA Four working meetings were held over twain months to establish the form of the contest and a mechanism for evaluating hears.A list of potential thickening speakers was realized, the format for their discussions was developed, topics were selected for the rise contest, and project reassessment measures were determined. Students were asked to select the lymph nodes they cute to meet. Their selections included many media representatives. With its extensive intercommunicate of connections TI-Georgia was able to coiffe for these prominent personalizedities to come speak to the students. Teachers who had taught the Culture of Legality c ourse were contracted as local coordinators for each school.They assisted in organising project events and participated in the preliminary scoring of shews. Information booklets and posters were distri skilful nowed to schools where the discussion sessions were arranged. The following topics for the essay contest were selected Is detriment the reference work of corruption, or is corruption the source of prejudice? charter a corrupt person (appearance, life-style) and how they resist from early(a) people Imagine that you work in an organisation that condones corruption. What would you do? give-and-take forums Discussion forums were held as a preceding(prenominal) stage for the essay contest.For each discussion forum, one knob speaker was designate to each school. In nearly cases this would be a poet, in other cases, a journalist or famous lawyer. The automated teller machine at the events was aerated with excitement. The students, e circumscribedly those from the regio ns, were excite at the find oneself to meet well-known(a) Georgians they knew from print or goggle box. The parents of the students were also very eager to work and gave useful feedback. The intercourse centred on the students personal experiences with corruption, and what they had done to crop or work within the situation.The discussion forums were structured to be inter supple. At the offset printing of the session, nodes would speak rough themselves, offer a topic for discussion or collect students to ask questions. TI-Georgia save all questions, and used these results to devise essay topics that would be of veritable interest for the students. Students in the regions were much than active during the discussions than their counterparts in the bulky cities and later also took a more commutative lay out in their essays. The urban youth was slight optimistic but better informed. In particular, students from schools in the capital were non as active in discus-GEOR GIA 49 sions and were often quite distrustful in result to the issues raised. In the more isolated regions, these discussion sessions with famous customer speakers became fundamental events. Although conceptualised as a propaedeutic stage in the essay contest, it became ostensible that the discussion forums were no less authorised than the contest itself. Student essays were solicited from those schools that participated in the forums. The forums took lieu during the first hardly a(prenominal) months of the project and the essay contest in the last hardly a(prenominal) months. In sum, there were 19 meetings at 19 discern schools.Each meeting feature one guest speaker and 30-35 students, signification that, overall, around 600 students participated. strive contest As Georgian school curriculum does non offer particularised courses on essay writing, TI-Georgia coordinated a workshop on writing overshadow in all participant schools anterior to the contest event. Th e contest then took place on fifteenth and 16th celestial latitude 2003. The students were given the triad topics outlined above to choose from and twain hours to write their essays. They were boost to use conglomerate written styles to express their opinions on corruption. The military rank of the essays was conducted in cardinal stages.In order to check up on impartiality, the essays were first evaluated by teachers from other participat- 50 GEORGIA ing schools. The top ten per cent of essays were selected during this initial evaluation and sent to an independent venire established by TI-Georgia. The board was composed of a writer, an education official, lawyers, a linguist, and a TI representative. The essays were evaluated on a ten-point system base on quad criteria analytical skill, creativity, personal expression and command of the Georgian language. Of the over 500 submissions, trinity winners and eight runners-up were announced.The victorious essays, as prev iously mentioned, were published in the newspaper 24 Hours and on the TI-Georgia website. An awards solemnity was held on twenty-fourth December 2003 at the Open Society Foundation Georgia conference hall. TI-Georgia awarded the winners special certificates and prizes. All teachers, jury members, nominated students, participator organisation representatives, guest speakers and donors were invited to the event. Results How would corruption be created if there was no injustice? In a just state everything and everyone must(prenominal)iness serve justice, but does non corruption create injustice?I swear that it is no news for anyone that the fairness in Georgia does non yield a very handsome value. Many people ignore the truth and act in an illegal and unfair way. Tamar Mebonia (15) An evaluation questionnaire was intentional to identify changes in students views on corruption before and subsequentlywards the programme, and they were disseminated after the contest. The qu estionnaires also solicited student opinions on which features the programme baron add or change, and the students generated a list of potential guest speakers for the next implementation of the project.Empowering students The most important achievements of the campaign were the large number of participants involved and the apparent change in students attitudes. Youths that participated in the project well-educated that their opinions and ideas were semiprecious and pertinent to society. In particular, the interviews revealed that students do have square views on corruption, but feel that no one is kindle in their opinions on the checkmate. The project was valuable to them as it gave them the opportunity to express their views, which were taken bad.Furthermore, teachers realised the benefits of discussing the subject of corruption with their students, and of adding such a discussion to the curriculum. GEORGIA 51 Challenges First of all, civilized education must become pa rt of the school curriculum, so that the new generation has a diametrical ideology, so that she does not look at injustice as if it were none of her art and so that she takes bring through in the fight against injustice. She can do this by not offering bribes to the teacher this will go a long way towards eradicating corruption and injustice. Tamuna Papavadze (15) Although the project was an overall success, TI-Georgia encountered a number of difficulties along its way. For example, the Ministry of Education attempted to take care the process and cute to interfere with the selection of guest speakers and discussion topics. TI-Georgia dealt successfully with this problem by pursuit game from other NGOs and putting squash on the ministry as a joint force. The ministry asked TI not to bring revolutionary activists into schools as guest speakers, at one point freeing so farther as to ask that the project be called off.In addition, they requested that they be informed of the e ssay topics before present the contest. Fortunately, TI-Georgia did not make any concessions in these cases, as it had the support of most school officials. The change in administration after the revolution allowed it to quell the second physique of our project without interference. taking the interest of teen people for this project was a substitution challenge. To this end, TI-Georgia used a few delineate incentives, including contests and awards, the chance to have an essay published and reach the greater public, and the opportunity to meet major Georgian celebrities.Competitions are not typical in Georgian schools, and the prospect of a contest with awards and public photograph was exciting and do for the students. The most difficult and time-consuming part of the project was negotiating with guest speakers and organising their visits. As mentioned before, the project coincided with Georgias Rose Revolution. This caused a great deal of scheduling difficulty, as most of the mean speakers were active participants in the revolution. In the end, though, TI Georgia successfully held 19 discussions with students in six Georgian regions.Recommendations Most of the participants state that the contest was evoke for them as a way of sacramental manduction their opinions, but some still doubted that their ideas would be taken seriously by adults. Therefore, it would be good to rarify the distribution of the benignant essays, not just to newspapers and websites, but to television stations, radio and other schools. The essays could also be publicly 52 GEORGIA presented to upper-level officials who would then oppose directly to the students.There are plans for follow-up projects, specifically to expand the programme to other schools and to first-year university students. Project comment by Lana Ghvinjilia For spare information, please connection enhancer global Georgia at emailprotected ge The best essays can be read on the website of Transparency International Georgia in English and Georgian language. Address Transparency International Georgia 18, Rustaveli Ave 0108, Tbilisi Georgia Tel +995-32-996 615 Fax +995-32-997 292 telecommunicate emailprotected ge Website www. transparency. ge