The second anti-corruption lesson under the slogan “Break the chain! Say NO to corruption!” was held today in Novi Sad. It was attended by more than 200 final-year secondary school students and their teachers. It aimed at improving public understanding of the corruption issue with the special focus on youth education and information.
On this occasion, the State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice Radomir Ilić said that the new organisation of state authorities contributed to having an efficient and effective judiciary achieving results in the fight against corruption, and that final judgements were now reached in less than a month.
“Now the police make arrests, prosecutor’s offices prosecute, while courts hold trials and convict criminals who have stolen from the state and people. In cases where, for example, somebody reports a doctor, we reach a final judgement in less than a month because we have specialised bodies who know their job, are not burdened with other cases, and therefore have time to deal with corruption,” Ilić explained at Isidora Sekulić Grammar School of Novi Sad.
As he pointed out, reports of corruption mainly concern public procurement and various forms of abuse of office.
How to recognise corruption, to whom to report it, and how to prevent this harmful social phenomenon – those were the topics explained to students and their teachers from 51 secondary schools from Novi Sad, Bač, Bačka Palanka, Bački Petrovac, Bečej, Vrbas, Žabalj, Sremski Karlovci, Srbobran, Titel, Temerin, Inđija, Stara Pazova, Irig, Pećinci, Ruma, Sremska Mitrovica, Šid and Futog by Special Advisor responsible for secondary and adult education in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development Aleksandar Pajić, President of the Novi Sad City Assembly Zdravko Jelušić and “Prevention and Fight against Corruption” project Team Leader Roman Prah.
Students were also addressed by prosecutors, police officers and judges who fight corruption on a daily basis, representatives of the Anti-Corruption Agency and of Transparency Serbia and Pištaljka (Whistle) NGOs.
This educational lesson was organised under the EU-funded project “Prevention and Fight against Corruption” which is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia and the National Public Prosecutor's Office as a part of the public awareness campaign on the importance of prevention and fight against corruption.
The first anti-corruption lesson was held on 4 April 2019 in Kraljevo, while the next ones are to take place in Belgrade and Niš in September 2019.
In addition to anti-corruption lessons for secondary school students, debates will be organised for university students at four university centres in Serbia, including a number of conferences.