“Education is the bedrock to development but it cannot be attained when societies choose to romance with dishonest and immoral practices”.

The Principal of the Centennial Senior Secondary School, Sulaiman A. Sengeh underscored, in one of the Anti-Corruption Commission’s, (ACC) sustained public education activities dubbed “Meet the schools campaign” designed to educate school authorities and pupils on integrity values and shed light on why they should refrain from illegal acts and academic malpractices.

These sensitization meetings were held on Thursday 24th and Friday 25th November 2022, at the Centennial Junior and Senior Secondary Schools Mattru Jong and Dr. Bob Pierce Memorial Secondary School , Luawa Town, Jong Chiefdom, Bonthe District respectively.  

Addressing school authorities and pupils, ACC, Regional Manager, South, Momodu Sittar said the interactive session with schools demonstrate the Commission’s commitment to promote integrity values, decent conduct and attitudes and professional ethics in schools. Manager Sittar stressed the importance of building a honest and just society noting that, it is the path to achieving sustainable growth. He acknowledged the positive strides of some teachers and school authorities whose integrity is intact and beyond reproach. Mr. Sittar enumerated a number of ACC’s interventions not only to punish lawbreakers but also to engage the different echelons of the education stakeholders on a frank conversation in order to inspire change of attitude and behavior of teachers and pupils. The ACC boss in the South reaffirmed ACC’s determination to work with teachers and school authorities to setup the right structures in order to prevent illegal practices in schools.        

In her statement, ACC’s Public Education Officer, Yangie Deborah Sesay said the school is not a market place where everything is traded, but rather, it is a breeding ground where a country’s future human resource is nurtured. Miss. Sesay recognized the Government and its development partners’ efforts to changing the story of Sierra Leone’s education system for the better. She furthered that such moves will be futile if certain sections of the public decide to be on the side of the rogues. The Public Educator catalogued practices which seemingly have engulfed the schools’ environment emphasizing that, these acts are not only illegal but amount to offences punishable by law. She asserted that the progress that have been made in education can be sustained when school authorities embark on robust supervision of teachers, ensure effective utilization and management of fees subsidy, institute anti-corruption measures, enforce disciplinary codes for defaulters and adhere to legislations that guide their work. She called on the pupils to prioritize their studies above trivial issues because success cannot be achieved in the face of lethargy and disrespect for law and authority.

The Senior Public Education Officer, ACC, Abdulai Saccoh in his contribution, asserted that a country that is serious to remove itself from corruption embraces quality education.  Saccoh outlined the roles of school authorities in the crusade noting that they must take pride in delivering quality service and have the courage to expose the corrupt. He implored them to exhibit high level of integrity in the dispensation of their duties as they have committed themselves to stamp out corruption in the school environment.