The International Anti-Corruption Day is celebrated on December 9 every year. Ahead of International Anti-Corruption Day, the Institute for Youth Development KULT organized the event “Coffee with Vedran Zubić and Namir Ibrahimović: Fighting corruption with education.” Vedran Zubić and Namir Ibrahimović are well-known professors who are very popular among young people. They use their work to draw attention to the corruption permeating our society.
This event was a great opportunity for young people to learn more about this problem and ask questions. Before “Coffee with…” the participant attended an interactive workshop. Professors Vedran Zubić and Namir Ibrahimović shared their knowledge and experience with young people in an engaging and interesting way.
“One of the problems is that whatever the quality of your work is, if you have money it’s good enough. But corruption is not only the financial aspect – moral corruption is a lot worse. We need to educate critical thinkers and we’re holding them back from doing just that. First, we need to build foundations for quality education, which will encourage children to think critically and form their opinions based on that. It will make the fight against corruption a lot easier,” said Professor Vedran Zubić.
The education reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina should include clear rules and procedures to combat corruption and ensure transparency and create an efficient education system either by adjusting current curricula or developing new ones.
“Unfortunately, social issues are not studied during formal education. Students are overwhelmed with the amount of information they are required to learn according to the curricula. Corruption has infected every segment of our society, including education. Critical thinking would go a long way in helping us fight corruption, but, unfortunately, young people are not taught critical thinking in schools,” said Professor Namir Ibrahimović.
Professors Zubić and Ibrahimović concluded that students should be just as entitled to think and speak as their teachers, as this is essential for engaging with young people and addressing corruption.
Kerim Tahirbegović, one of the participants, mentioned that he particularly enjoyed the interactive workshop, where everyone had the opportunity to ask questions. He also emphasized that he learned a lot of valuable information at the event, thanks to the relaxed atmosphere and the opportunity to interact with both professors and his peers.
Young people were clearly interested in the topic of corruption during this “Coffee with…” session and took the opportunity to ask lots of questions. It’s important to talk to young people so they can learn about corruption and feel motivated to take action.
This event is part of the Say NO to Corruption initiative in Sarajevo Canton, implemented by the Institute for Youth Development KULT. The initiative, supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, aims to raise public awareness about the harmful effects of corruption, examine citizens’ and young people’s views on the issue, and provide basic information on combating corruption.
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