2019 Activities

Honouring students and schools in the context of the Integrity Clubs project in three governorates

Honouring students and schools in the context of the Integrity Clubs project in three governorates

In partnership between AMAN, Teacher Creativity Centre and Ministry of Education and Higher Education

Ramallah – In a genuine attempt to create an enlightened generation that is imbued with the values of integrity and equipped with the culture of transparency and good governance, in partnership with the Teacher Creativity Centre, and in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE), the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN) celebrated the School Integrity Clubs initiative and development of student projects on community issues. In 2018, the initiative targeted around 500 students and 21 teachers and educational supervisors in the three MoEHE district education directorates of Tubas, Northern Hebron, and Salfit.

AMAN honoured the students, who developed and carried out community initiatives to promote the concept and values of integrity in 2018. Students presented their initiatives, which translated these ideas into action in their schools and community setting. Together with teachers and educational supervisors, schools that designed and implemented distinguished community initiatives were also held to honour. Initiatives have had a clearly positive impact on students, schools, and surrounding communities. 
Students presented their initiatives to a jury for evaluation. These covered a variety of themes, including inspection of the work of school facilities, fair disbursement of the education tax, operation of health units, and equitable application of law at schools. Initiatives also covered  examination of the output of solar panels, school donations, power supply, and auditing of municipal projects, including streets. Other initiatives addressed outsourcing school canteens, health standards for school canteens, and school digitalisation on an equal footing by relevant municipalities. 

Targeting students of preparatory schools, the Integrity Clubs initiative reflects an effective vision of those students, who play an influential and leading role in their communities in line with the moral and pedagogical responsibility of the education sector. The initiative is informed by institutionalising self-assessment of teacher and student behaviours. Accordingly, both teachers and students are encouraged to have a say on surrounding practices and behaviours from the perspective of integrity, accountability, and transparency.

The School Integrity Clubs project has produced a Training Manual on the Establishment of Integrity Clubs and Guiding Principles for Initiative Taking. These pave the way to imparting knowledge and skills to teachers to embrace the concepts of integrity, implement mechanisms to promote these concepts in schools, and foster student initiatives on integrity issues. In addition, teachers, principals and educational supervisors in all three district education directorates were trained and prepared to transfer this body of knowledge, concepts, and tools to students.

Additionally, 15 student exhibitions were organised. All students engaged in creating and producing art paintings and sculptures to raise awareness of the importance of the values of integrity and fight against corruption in the students’ environment. These art works also reflected rejection of corruption and corrupt individuals in society.

In his statement, Dr. Basri Saleh, MoEHE Undersecretary, expressed his pleasure at the sustainable outputs of the School Integrity Clubs. These have contributed to instilling the values of integrity and nurturing good educational practices. The initiative would also create future leaders, who are capable of building our Palestinian state. Mr. Abed Al Qader Al Husseni. Chairman of AMAN’s Board of Director, stated that School Integrity Clubs have reflected a unique pioneering idea and bridged the gap between concept and application. These have helped students absorb practices of integrity and transparency, empowering them to exercise community accountability and monitor suspicions of corruption. Commending the idea, Al Husseni expressed hope that the initiative could be replicated throughout schools, particularly in Jerusalem which suffers from continued Judaisation by the Israeli occupying authorities. Ms. Raida Shuaibi, Board Chair of the Teacher Creativity Centre, commended the performance of students, who mastered the roles they played in monitoring and accountability. Shuaibi concluded that school students “are the incisive eye and strong voice for all new developments in society.”

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