UGC Wants Colleges to Include Anti-Corruption Topics in Syllabus

College students may soon have a new subject to study: Anti-corruption. In a letter dated March 14, the University Grants Commission has asked university and college authorities to include courses on anti-corruption practices in their curriculum.

UGC secretary Jaspal Sandhu has written to universities about the need to enhance awareness about the topic. "It has been observed that there is a general lack of awareness among school and college students about what corruption is, its adverse impacts on society, and how and whom they should complain to. Children are interested in knowing more about ethics, how to fight corruption and related issues. Expanding their knowledge base and familiarizing them with these issues will encourage them to be dedicated to tackling corruption and will also facilitate in character building," reads the letter.

The letter further mentions that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has advised that the awareness of school children should be enhanced. It states that topics such as ethics, vigilance, anti-corruption, details of organizations such as CVC, Central Bureau of Investigation and others associated with anti-corruption should be included in the curriculum for students. "This will enable them to get an overview of the concepts and frameworks of anti-corruption progressively," reads the letter

Sandhu's letter advises all universities and colleges to add these topics to their curriculum. In June 2014, UGC financial adviser, Upamanyu Basu wrote to the vice-chancellors of universities across the country directing them to include anti-corruption subjects with relevant topics like law, public administration and human rights in higher education curriculum.

"In order to strengthen participation and to combat corruption in its every form, the human resource development ministry's department of higher education has considered the inclusion of the subject of anti-corruption in the curriculum and also for carrying out research in this field," read the letter.

Source: Prasad Patil, City Journalist, CollegeDekho