Corruption - what chance do kids?

Napaporn Kurupasutachai, The Nation, Asia News Network, Bangkok

If parents and teachers continue to set an example of double standards, ethics and honesty will remain unattainable goals

The word corruption is widely used in spoken Thai. Unfortunately, few people have a true understanding of its meaning. It is certainly well understood when we talk about government officials or politicians taking bribes or making pay- offs.

In this broader sense there are many fundamental activities in daily life that involve less obvious forms of corruption. It would be pointless for the country to preach good governance if the public did not have a full understanding of what constituted corruption or cheating. A good understanding of this broader meaning of corruption must begin at a tender age (ie at home) and must be continuously emphasized throughout the school years into adulthood.

Parents need to be truthful to their children and set a good example through their own behavior. Otherwise they will not take what they are taught seriously. Rewards and punishment must be consistent and in line with a child's conduct. At the same time, parents must be careful not to turn a reward into a bribe to get a child to do certain things. Otherwise they will be unknowingly corrupting the child.

Parents should also not make promises they do not intend to keep. If they cannot keep a promise, there should be a good reason. For children to grow up and learn to respect others, parents must learn to respect them as well. Most of the time, children understand a lot more than adults realize.

In schools, particularly in rural areas, there is a broader form of corruption to be seen. For example, many teachers arrive at school long after classes have begun. In the meantime students are left to their own mischief.

Some teachers do not bother to show up at all. They may be busy selling life insurance, cosmetics etc, supposedly to make ends meet. Some go to other schools to help their friends prepare for the arrival of an external examiner to evaluate the school. Sometimes all the teachers take half a day off to go to a welcome or farewell party for senior teachers or management staff.

These are some examples of routine corruption in terms of time which occur daily in rural schools. Those who suffer are the students, especially in schools which already have a teacher shortage. They routinely suffer from the negligence of teachers who steal valuable teaching time to do other things they deem more important than teaching.

Sadly, teachers who are guilty of this form of corruption tend to progress well in their careers. They know how to look after their bosses or amass friends to help them advance. This situation is discouraging for those teachers who take their responsibilities seriously.

Corruption of this nature is no better at higher-education institutes either. Outside teaching hours, many university teachers are unavailable for student consultations as they are too busy being consultants or conducting commercial research for private firms. Thus the majority of Thai teachers at all levels have little time to spend on planning lessons for their classes. (We are not talking here about special tuition classes they give outside their full-time institution.)

The government is well aware of these problems. To resolve them, however, needs strong political will. First, salaries and benefits for dedicated teachers must be improved, particularly for teachers posted to hardship areas. Second, career evaluations of teachers should be based on student results, not on a written portfolio of achievements (which, as is well-known, is often written by a hired expert). Third, there must be a clear career path for teachers who want to remain teachers and not become management personnel. These measures should remove some of the basic corruption in schools.

To keep corruption to a minimum, parents and schools must help one another. Outside school time, students spend time with their families and friends and learn or absorb behavior from those around them. If parents and teachers consistently behave in accordance with the ethical standards they preach, children will be better able to distinguish right from wrong. Also, society needs to behave more consistently, ie recognize and reward those with integrity while punishing the corrupt, not the other way around as so often happens in our society.

The writer is secretary-general of the Teacher Plus Foundation, a private, non-profit organization devoted to development and training of rural schoolteachers.