Ghana’s Ambassador to France, Madam Anna Bossman has urged the youth of Ghana to value integrity and that success was not measured by what one had but how they were gotten.
“Always take role models who will inspire you to become better, work hard to get achieve success and avoid short cuts,” she advised.
The former Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) boss was talking at a youth forum held in Accra to mark this year’s Anti-Corruption and Transparency (ACT) week celebration.
Some students were drawn from about seven senior secondary schools with the Accra metropolis to share their thoughts on the subject corruption and its impact on the youth and the nation as a whole.
The students were selected from Accra Academy, Accra High School, Wesley Grammer, Holy Trinity Cathedral Senior High School, Presec, Legon, Osu Presec and Kinbu Senior High School.
Chris Akor, a student of Presec, Legon said some students were favoured by tutors not because they deserved it, but because they performed some domestic duties such as washing, fetching of water among others.
“Such students are seen scoring good grades we all know they don’t merit,” he said.
Shenazar Sowa-Edmunds presenting for Osu Presec suggested that to intensify the education amongst the youth Integrity clubs should be instituted in school.
She said the appointment of integrity ambassadors within the schools would assist in enforcing value of integrity among the youth.
Mr. Richard Quayson, Deputy Commissioner, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), said corruption, indiscipline and lawlessness were not accidental, but rather by products of the sum total of our thoughts, attitudes, mindset, upbringing, education and actions.
He said the purpose of education and learning was not merely the acquisition of knowledge, but more importantly imparting into the conscience of the society core values that equally and proportionately integrated the various component of humanity.
He said Basic Education harnessed the foundational constructs of the intellectual, psychological, emotional, social and physical development of the nation’s human capital.
“It is therefore the most important domain next to the family system to inculcate and nurture lifelong values during early brain and character development,” he said.
He said there was therefore an urgent need to place character building at the centre of the educational curriculum adding that the development of the character of every child from the basic level was essential and had the ability to impact the nation at large over time.
By: Sammy Agyei/Frontpageghana.com/Ghana
