If the state and the whole society is not determined in fight against corruption today, then in the future they will have the same problems with corrupt persons. Corruption can kill. Here is a simple logic: today’s corrupt official may tomorrow become the victim of a corrupt doctor. or another example: the traffic police takes bribe and let the drunk driver go. There is no guarantee that tomorrow the policeman’s relative shall not become the victim of that driver.

Participants of the seminar organized in the framework of “Multi-Faceted Anti-Corruption Promotion” Project discussed such examples. the regular seminar of the project was held in Ararat marz. The topic of the seminar was “Main Issues of Anti-Corruption Education in Armenia.”
Mr. Artak Saribekyan, AYLA Executive Director opened the seminar with welcoming speech.

Fight against corruption shall start from school, believe the experts. According to Mr. Marat Atovmyan, the local expert of the project, the anti-corruption education has an essential role and importance for the state. “All states which have achieved considerable success in ensuring integrity and anti-corruption fight had applied qualified anti-corruption education model,”-he said.

“It is really important that the public education system forms real citizens from the pupils: individuals who love their motherland not on the level of toasts and speeches but in reality. The real patriot will never rob his country and his compatriots,” – Mr. Atovmyan said. He also emphasized that students in schools shall study traffic rules, human rights and the mechanisms for the protection of human rights, ethics and aesthetics and gain anti-corruption knowledge.

“As a result of all these we shall have a much more educated, aware, prepared and patriotic society, the results will be much greater, because it is more difficult to work with the adults than with the school age children who are just shaping their worldview.”

According to the expert the anti-corruption education must be ensured through application of the modern methods as well, provide practical skills to the audience, for example create appropriate computer games. It is better to have people play such games than to advocate murders, and violence,” he said.

Marat Atovmyan concluded, “We need to radically change the attitude of the state, to review its anti-corruption education system that is carried out at various levels. The current system is so efficient and cannot record serious results in the fight against corruption,” – mentioned the expert.

Mr. Carl Ulbricht, the International Expert of “Multi-Faceted Anti-Corruption promotion” project said that it is necessary understand what methodology we apply to make the anti-corruption fight in our country effective.

Carl Ulbricht introduced the methodology and the international practice. He began from Singapore, noting that the country has an independent anti-corruption body, which conducts seminars and workshops, and has projects with schools. Anti-Corruption videos and other materials are prepared in Singapore as well.

Speaking on Hong Kong’s experience, the expert noted that this country carries out workshops, and seminars, and prepare the films they have very popular detective series as well.

“One independent body operates in Hong Kong. In the first years, the body visited the communities, where the people were constrained in the initial period. There was also a method where people could call to report corruption. At first people anonymous reported about the corruption anonymously, then the mentality was changed,” – said the expert. he also represented the experience of Lithuania, Argentina, Austria, Macedonia and Serbia.

Mr. Tigran Matevosyan,, coordinator of the project in Ararat marz referred to the issues of legal consciousness of the citizens. He said, “If the citizens help us and report about the corruption risks openly, we can achieve success, otherwise we shall be unable to help them.”

Mr. Gevorg Tosunyan, Journalist of Iravaban.net website delivered a lecture as well. he spoke about the mechanisms of conducting investigation in the education area.

Iravaban.net