The award ceremony for the winners of the 1st Panhellenic Student Competition entitled: "Integrity Leaders of Tomorrow", implemented by the National Transparency Authority (NTA) in cooperation with the Ministry of Education & Religious Affairs, the Institute of Educational Policy and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The aim of the action was to inform, raise awareness and gradually familiarise the student community with the concepts of public ethics, transparency, meritocracy and accountability.
In the framework of the competition, students from all over the country had the opportunity to express themselves through creative means (e.g. painting, collage, poster, video, written text, poem) and to reflect in an original way the values of respect, justice, integrity and solidarity. In total, 217 students from all educational levels participated with 157 works, while 37 schools from all over the country were represented.
The discussion was moderated by journalist Ms. Markella Sarajha.
The Deputy Minister of Education & Religious Affairs, Ms. Zeta Makri, gave a short address, referring to the 1st Pan-Hellenic student competition " Integrity Leaders of Tomorrow", noting that "This is an initiative that highlighted through the children's works concepts and values such as truth, respect, trust, transparency, democracy, integrity and contributed to the acquaintance and familiarity with these concepts." Addressing the children, Ms. Makri said that, "every day your teachers, your families, all of us, our top priority is to empower you with life skills, to nurture your skills and abilities to achieve the goals you set, the dreams you make, the aspirations you dare." She went on to address the teachers noting that "I commend your concern to promote integrity and respect in your students, to help them resolve moral dilemmas, to become active citizens. Citizens capable of recognizing dangers and guarding against them, of speaking out courageously about what concerns them, of standing up for their fundamental rights, of standing boldly in the face of injustice, of giving and receiving respect.
Concluding her statement, Ms. Makri said that "It is very important that the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs in its pursuit of an upgraded school, a school with a new philosophy and vision, the school of skills, has fellow travelers, who with their own proposals strengthen its multiple objectives. Every beginning, every new institution, every new idea for experiential and discovery learning opens up another field of activity, creation, exploration, conquest and progress.
Referring to this innovative programme of the NΤΑ, the Governor of the NΤΑ, Mr. Angelos Binis, pointed out that "this action is part of our overall effort to change the paradigm regarding the standards of ethics and integrity through our educational system, and is one of the actions implemented by the Authority's awareness and communication team". He said: "Today we are rewarding the teachers and students who have embraced this effort and created innovative and very interesting projects, precisely to see how the young citizens of the country view the issues of transparency, public accountability and integrity. For us at the National Transparency Authority, this participation energizes us to design even more targeted policies that promote integrity through the education system."
The event was attended by:
Ms. Hara Kefalidou, Member of Parliament and Minister of Education, KINAL Greek party, referring to the initiative of the National Transparency Authority, noted that "Such initiatives by the State embraced by the educational community and especially such great participation by the children themselves, are the hope of all of us for a better country with responsible and responsible citizens. Active participation in public life - our common life, through the processes of monitoring those in positions of power, is the shield of the rule of law against all forms of arbitrariness and abuse of power that betrays the necessary trust in the state, offends citizens and ultimately the very essence of democracy.
Ms. Kefalidou continued noting that: "More as a citizen and as a mother I want to congratulate you and tell you how I believe in you, in your potential, in the purity and freshness of your mind and soul, that growing up and taking the baton from us you will be responsible, fair and demanding citizens. That is how you will make our world a better place.”
The author of children's books, Mr. Antonis Papatheodoulou, referring to the children's award said: "fairy tales tell the truth, better than the truth! It is very difficult through art to express such concepts, it is easy to paint a flower or a ship, but to paint the truth, integrity, solidarity, peace, is a very difficult thing and the children did it extremely well!”
Mr. Dimitris Diamantidis, former International basketball player, referring to the role of sport and its contribution to enable children to understand these concepts, said: “As an athlete, I have always tried to walk on the principles of morality and integrity. They are concepts that I have always kept in mind. We as elders are responsible to pass on a better society to our children and they in turn to theirs."
Ms. Sofia Yovanoglou, Counsellor A of the Institute of Educational Policy and Coordinator of the scientific unit "Rights, Minority, Ethnic Education & Detention Centres", who referred to the event and the children's effort, noted that "the children were asked to depict serious concepts such as corruption, fraud, integrity and they coped extremely well! I am very happy that together with the NΤΑ we implemented this project and organized today's event."
Dr. Anastasia Sotiropoulou, Legal Associate to the Governor of the National Transparency Authority, noted that the aim of the competition was to raise awareness among primary and secondary school students about the concept and importance of integrity, stating that "integrity means doing the right thing for the right reasons even when no one is watching and regardless of any reward". He further noted that "the works of the participants impressed the evaluators thanks to their creativity and aesthetic approach and congratulated all the students for their efforts".
Mr. Christos Vlassis, Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime/UNODC, thanked the organizers of the event for all the effort noting that: "The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) congratulated the winners of the competition, stressing the importance of education and youth participation in promoting integrity and effectively combating corruption. UNODC continues to engage academic partners and stakeholders from around the world to further this goal. UNODC reiterated its commitment to invite the selected winners to visit its headquarters in Vienna."