The competition which took place at the Bishop Brosnahan Hall, Santanno House, Howe Street attracted over two hundred (200) pupils, and aimed at testing pupils’ knowledge on the PNB, providing the platform for them to be sufficiently sensitized on the campaign.
In his keynote address, Deputy Commissioner, ACC, Shollay Davies underscored the importance and premium the Commission places on pupils and youths, noting they are the future leaders. Mr. Davies highlighted the damaging effects of corruption on education and implored pupils and school authorities to take the PNB campaign very seriously. Deputy Commissioner also stated that the competition was for pupils and the public to fully understand the issues of bribery and help their colleagues in gaining knowledge on the PNB.
“The Commission will continue to partner with schools through integrity clubs and colleges through accountability now clubs in order to deal with the problem of bribery in the education sector, Mr. Davies added.
Welcoming pupils, teacher coordinators, civil society groups and the media, Deputy Director Public Education and Outreach Patrick Sandi, stated, the PNB has as one of its pilot institutions the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) which supervises the operations of schools. He said, the PNB is a 100% anonymous reporting platform providing citizens the opportunity to report their experiences of bribery in key service delivery sectors-police, water, electricity, health and education. Mr. Sandi assured his audience of a transparent, unbiased and fair competition, emphasizing the Commission’s commitment to partnering with public sector institutions to combat bribery at all levels.
Five secondary schools participated in the competition: The Sierra Leone (SL) Grammar School; Albert Academy; Services Secondary, Ahmadiyya, and St. Helena. The Sierra Leone Grammar School and St. Helena Secondary School locked horns in the final round, with SL Grammar School emerging as the winner.
Cash prizes and certificates of participation were awarded to schools by Edita Fofana- Implementation Analyst at the National Anti-Corruption Strategy Secretariat-ACC, and Alice Bangura of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Unit.
Similar quiz competition on the Pay No Bribe campaign, involving pupils in Integrity clubs will be replicated in other pilot districts of the PNB project.
