Editorial
A step in the right direction
Anti-graft issue in curriculum
The all pervasive nature of corruption and the impunity culture growing around it have had a telling effect on the national economy, the traditional value system and the way politics and governance operated in the country. The society was taken over by an upstart money elite with their insatiable acquisitive lifestyle as the saner and cultural elements beat a retreat.
In this context, it's heartening to note that primary and secondary level textbooks would incorporate chapters on the vice of corruption and how to combat it from 2009 academic year. Already, the subject has been included in the textbooks of class IX and XI. But the ACC chairman Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury who pioneered the move favours teaching the subject from the ground up so that a revulsion against corruption is instilled in the minds of the children. That's why the broad sweep from class I to XII.
In not too distant a past, corrupt people would be looked down upon in the society, even ostracised, but down the line acquisition of money and wealth, regardless of the manner of it, came to be secretly adored as it could even buy legal impunity.
There were definitive ethical and moral content to the school curricula in the past but this has long since been missing. From this point of view, inculcation of moral values in impressionable minds through the medium of tales with a moral or proverbs is highly recommended. In fact, it is of utmost importance for the National Curriculum & Textbook Board (NCTB) to carefully decide on the contents and presentation of the points at issue in addressing corruption and malpractice.
The anti-corruption drive by its startling revelations have sensitised the people about the malaise. Those who give bribe and those who take it are equally to blame. This message should be dinned into the ears of all segments of society. Social awareness is very important there.
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