Government to inject anti-corruption values into schools

The government is planning to inject anti-corruption values into primary and secondary school students with the help of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The ministry of education will do this through the introduction of Corruption Prevention Secretariat (CPS) at the teacher training centres around the country.

However, the government is uncertain about making it a compulsory subject, said deputy minister Dr Puad Zarkashi at the launch of CPS at the Institute of Teacher Education (IPGM).

"Corruption is not just about arresting and prosecution but it must also be done through education, especially in the early stages. When we have this secretariat, it is a positive and proactive step forward," Puad told reporters.

There are currently 27 anti-graft secretariats, which will be based in the teacher training centres for primary schools around the country.

Puad said that the secretariats will be working closely with MACC to give exposure to would-be teachers about issues surrounding corruption, abuse of power and misappropriation.

The trained teachers will then filter down the knowledge to the school children in later stages.

"These training will give a lot of awareness to our future educators about what to teach young children at schools.

"The collaboration between IPGM and MACC is the best platform to ensure that values such as hating corruption are inculcated within our younger generation in our efforts to have a corruption free country."

Puad explained that at the moment, students in primary and secondary school are already learning about corruption in subjects such as Islamic studies, Civic Education and Moral.

"However, with this we will strengthen what they 've studied into other topics about what is corruption and what is considered a legal income source and so on.

Asked if it should be made into a compulsory subject for students, Puad said that at this point, it will only "ride on" other subjects such as Moral and Islamic studies.

However, Puad did not rule out the possibility of further discussion.

"As of now, we don't have a compulsory subject on corruption but we are ready to receive input on how we can make it better," he said.

Puad noted that it was more suitable and effective to inculcate these values through co-curriculum activities, including having school trips, quizzes, debate and seminars.

"If we were to make it into a compulsory subject, we would have to take into consideration the cost and time.

Previously, CPS has been implemented in 20 public universities since 2007. MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Abu Kassim Mohamed said the results at university level have been positive.

An impact study in 2011 showed the understanding of corruption increased to 80.4 percent from 48.6 percent.

The CPS initiative is one of the National Key Result Area (NKRA) on corruption under the Government Transformation Programme 2.0.

It is modelled after similar programmes have been implemented in a few countries in the region including Singapore, Brunei and Hong Kong.