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public is invited to contribute in live programmes through phone-ins or sending messages.
There are also television programmes run with the assistance of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation that have been exploited for the benefit of the viewers in Zimbabwe. These include Mai Chisamba show, Economic Forum, Melting Pot to name but a few of them. The delivery of the anti-corruption education is normally different in each of the above stated television platforms. In the Mai Chisamba Show, anti-corruption educators are made to be panelists in a hall full of people from different socio-economic background. The attendees are afforded an opportunity to contribute from the floor by way of giving their own views or asking questions on areas needing clarification from the panelists. The Mai Chisamba show is very popular and greatly followed by Zimbabweans and as a result, it is highly regarded as a family show in many Zimbabwean households.
3.2.4.5. Internet based public education
This includes a number of platforms like website, Facebook page, Whatsapp, Twitter and other digie-media platforms for engaging the public. The public educationists upload reading material of different types on the website, whatsapp, facebook page and they encourage the public to read and give feedback on issues of concern. The content includes corruption preventive tips, types and new forms of corrupt activities, upcoming anti-corruption events, poems, riddles, songs, art work, questions and answers, (Borcan et, al, 2017). The public is also taught how to make reports in case they come across corrupt people in society.
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participants from educational officials, parents, teachers and lecturers from primary to university level. An interview guide was applied to 1304 participants obtained through a multi-stage proportional sampling of institutions. The results were that the highest level of corruption awareness was found among university professors and high school teachers as compared to students and parents in general. Therefore, according to the findings of the Kosovo report, corruption awareness was closely linked to levels of education. The study also established that people were more tolerant with corruption and its high prevalence had little to do with ethnicity although the scarcity of basic needs served as a driver to engaging in corruption. In terms of these findings, my study needs to go further and establish the extent to which corruption awareness could be linked to the people’s social status or educational level. The study also tried to establish the degree to which the public might be tolerant when faced with situations that drive corruption, be they social or economic.
Chapman and Linder, (2016) observes that a considerable amount of education funds got abused in small amounts in many schools and colleges due to the presence of very weak financial control systems. To this end, Mapira and Matikiti, 2012) argue that the Zimbabwe education system could have lost a significant amount of income which came as levies, per capita grants and Basic Educational Assistance Module (BEAM). Such money was stolen from educational institutions either through cunning means by heads of schools / departments or through connivance with School Development Committees / Associations who shared the spoils with school heads. These criminal acts by authorities in education had greater chances of jeopardizing the academic benefits of higher education institutions and it could have had a potential to cause the reputational collapse of the entire education system in Zimbabwe, (Seniwoliba and Boahene, 2015).
On the other hand, bribery was flourishing in the education sector through criminally innovative means like buying beer, mobile phones, cattle, suits or even sex, for educational officials, (Chene, 2015). Equally so, some heads of schools and colleges bought houses in towns and growth points, posh vehicles, new executive home furniture which all tremendously transformed their way of living. The same education authorities were known to be sending their children to high schools abroad and in the region. This was done on the backdrop of them earning not more than $ 500,00 per
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month. If the government was to carry out an incomes audit with all its members in the civil service and then compare their annual incomes with annual expenditure, not all of them would pass the test of being anti-corrupt. Chapman and Linder, (2016) argue that, the most serious consequences arose from the pervasive, petty corruption that permeated the day-to-day transactions in the classroom, school and district level. It is in this vein that this study believes that the code of conduct, policies and procedures seem not to be water tight in preventing corruption in the education system hence the need to mount a robust public education programme in order to have educational leaders (heads of schools) who uphold and practise good corporate governance in all their day to day operations.
In a study by Chitereka and Nduna (2010) on Determinants of unmet need for Family Planning in Zimbabwe, in which the qualitative methodology was used, the report showed that the people continued to exhibit the need for vigorous education in the consumption of family planning services particularly those among the sexually active women and couples. The instruments used were focus groups discussions and individual interviews. The study was carried out in four provinces which were believed to be having high unmet need as reflected by the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) of 2005/6. The findings were that there was inadequate knowledge of family planning methods among sexually active people. Most participants knew the family planning methods, but lacked knowledge on how those methods worked or the possible side effects. The study also established that cultural beliefs, gender dynamics, power relations at household level, myths and misconceptions negatively impacted on the public education drive.
Finally, it was observed that the biggest impediment was lack of knowledge on the part of health staff (training) at service delivery points including clinics and hospitals while areas in resettlement areas and farming communities were under-served. This study shares much with this study in that although at basic level, the people of Zimbabwe have been taught on family planning issues but they continued to show need for more education as shown by the increase in sextually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies. Equally so, the pubic who undergo anti-corruption education may continue to perpetrate corruption offences or they become worse victims of corruption. This places a serious premium on the need to invigorate public
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education on anti-corruption on the shoulders of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission. There is need also to explore the influence of cultural beliefs, gender dynamics and power relations not only at household level but across the socio- economic levels. In this respect, I am also aware that information, education and communication appear to be playing an important part in public education on any subject including anti-corruption.
Another sad development that appears to have a harrowing effect on the Zimbabwean education system pertains to some students in institutions of higher education who hire lecturers to write assignments and dissertations on their behalf, (Makochekana, et al, 2010, Bretag, et al, 2018). This practice is a corrupt activity that renders the whole aim and process of education worthless. The practice has to stop forth with lest schools and colleges lend themselves to fake institutions that exist as certificate mills lacking the expected academic excellence and integrity they have been established for.
As if this is not enough, www.thestandard.co.zw, gives an account of reports where school heads and other school officials produced fake invoices for school repairs and pocketed the difference. This corrupt practice seems to be on the rise and usually it is motivated by poor tender procedures where winners are hand-picked without going through competitive bidding, (Rowland, et al, 2018). The school finance committee which adjudicates on school tenders either appears to lack knowledge on handling credible tender procedures or is it the case that they know but the tender process has become a cash cow to them and their cronies. It is believed that school heads participate in inside trading by informing tenderers on what to write on the bids. Such favours are then rewarded by fat payments by bidders who canvass for winning the tenders while the school heads unscrupulously benefit from the proceeds of ill-gotten resources. The abuse of educational funds in such ways means that schools may experience unwarranted shortage of resources culminating in poor service delivery and thereby negatively affecting the quality of education.
This point is supported by (Seniwoliba and Boahene, 2015) who argue that such cases of corruption in education are very dangerous and they create barriers to high quality education and socio-economic development.
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Zinanga, (1992), in a report entitled, ‘Development of the Zimbabwe Family Planning Program’, chronicles the stages which the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council went through in establishing an effective public education programme. The report stresses the point that the Zimbabwe Family Planning Council failed to register the intended successes because its Information, Education and Communication (Public Education) strategy was adversely affected by lack of diversity as the family planning educators resorted to commonly known methodologies and content thereby having little effect on the behaviour among the public. The report found out that, most men did not attend the meetings as they felt that the meetings were more relevant to women / ladies than them because they thought that as men, they do not carry pregnancies. There were cultural and political factors which caused fear to adopt new family planning methods. To this end, some husbands and wives never agreed on the method to use and this rendered the whole preventive effort futile. These findings identified some crucial factors at play in the public’s knowledge and experiences of anti-corruption education and therefore were worth investigating in my study. The Zinanga, (1992) report offers a very good example in which a successful public education could be planned, resourced, implemented and evaluated. I understand that family planning issues may be addressed differently from anti-corruption issues, but the methodology may not differ significantly.
Motsi, Banda and Mabvurira, (2012) researched on cultural practices and usage of female condoms in Zimbabwe. They reported that there was an imbalance in consumption between male and female condoms in Zimbabwe. The paper depicts a scenario where condom distribution in one province was rated at 12% for female condoms and 88% for male condoms. While the statistics are quite alarming showing that more male condoms were distributed, it has to be noted that distribution and consumption could have been two different issues altogether and this should never be trusted to imply that male condoms were better preferred to female condoms by partners during sex. What is so striking about the findings is that sexual decisions were found to be the prerogative of males and that women preventive methods were being compromised by traditional beliefs. In the context of my planned study, the Motsi et al (2012) paper is very helpful in that it suggests that when conducting a study on public education in Zimbabwe there is need to find out modalities on how to
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involve traditional leaders in a bid to address the cultural issues that may stand as barriers to the successful implementation of new measures to combat corruption.
My study took a leaf from the Motsi et al (2012) study in the sense that corruption could be ingrained in certain traditions that Zimbabweans are part of. As a result, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission’s public education on anti-corruption should be subjected to scrutiny as to the extent to which it addresses cultural and traditional issues. It would be interesting to know the degree to which language codes or idioms could provide cover for illicit dealings and bad conduct. For example, ‘Mbudzi inodya payakasungirirwa’ (It is not criminal to convert organizational resources for personal benefit), or ‘Utshomi lo uyatshibilika’ (This guy makes things happen). The general assessment of such coined linguistic codes should inform the content and method that a comprehensive public education on anti-corruption should take.