Young Ukrainians want a different kind of life
On December 9, the International Anti-Corruption Day, the World Bank’s Office in Ukraine in collaboration with the Project “Worthy Ukraine” aimed at facilitating active public involvement in combating corruption summed up the results of the national competition “Corruption in Higher Educational Institutions.”
This effort on the part of the organizers deserves every praise, considering that few people in Ukraine are concerned about curing the disease of corruption that has affected the mindset of the younger generation. The main goal of the 2008 competition was to help young people realize the truth about the negative effects of corruption on each member of the community and society as a whole, develop a negative attitude to any manifestations of corruption, and adopt an active civic stand in combating corruption in Ukraine.
Without doubt, corruption struck practically all social spheres, including education and especially the institutions of higher learning. With its passive stand, our society will find itself engulfed by this phenomenon on an increasing scale, so the main task today is to become different from all those others-in other words, learn not to offer bribes and change people’s mentality in regard to money, easy ways of getting the result, and so on. Many will say that the government machine and its operators, the bureaucrats, are to blame. However, we must also bear in mind that this machine is created by people and that a lot depends on how much they want and can fight corruption.
This year Ukraine’s younger generation demonstrated its awareness of corruption: the competition’s organizing committee received 104 essays submitted by people aged between 15 and 25, each dealing with corruption, its effect on the value and quality of education, and ways of combating it. These essays served as graphic evidence of young Ukrainians’ resolute stand against corruption.
Our youth refuse to live by the rules dictated by society and the government machine, where corruption is rampant. They are prepared to form a new kind of society. A competent jury selected 14 works and announced the winners who received special awards from the organizers and sponsors.
In addition to the awards ceremony, those present-contestants, officials, and media people-watched a play and a documentary on the negative effects of corruption.
