Five orientation programmes for college students were held at Pokhara and Ramkot in Kaski district from 30 August to 1 September 2017.
As part of Strengthening Citizen Engagement in Anti-Corruption Efforts (STREAC) project, the programme was organized by Centre for Media Freedom (CMF) in collaboration with consortium partners Development Communication Society Nepal (SODEC) and Nepal Center for Contemporary Research (NCCR) and with support from Governance Facility.
Around 500 students studying in Bachelor and Higher Secondary Level took part in half-day programmes in all five venues.
The students were provided with educational materials, reference resources and informative kits on anti-corruption and accountability. They were also shown enter-educative TV programme “Seedha Baato” prepared by comedian Jitu Nepal and his team.
Prof. Rama Krishna Regmee, who has conducted many independent research projects on anti-corruption and is a seasoned media professional and instructor, gave power point presentations about definition, types and impacts of corruption and students’ role in combating graft in four programmes.
Similarly, former President of Federation of Nepali Journalists Mr. Taranath Dahal informed students about Right to Information and the method to use it to fight corruption.
At Janapriya Multiple Campus, Mr. Yadu Prasad Panthi, Chief of Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority in Kaski district, gave a comprehensive presentation of corruption and requested students to report any corrupt activities to his office.
Another resource person Mr. Rajendra Phuyal who is Senior Correspondent at Kantipur daily gave a presentation on prevalence of corruption in Nepal and the role students can play in combating it.
The students had intense interaction with experts during the orientation programme. Students in all the programmes enjoyed the enter-educative TV programme as well as experts’ presentations.
In the course of the programme, pre-test and post-test questionnaires were administered to students before and after the orientation to gauge their knowledge level of anti-corruption.
At the end of the programme, students in Gupteshwor Mahadev Campus initiated their engagement against corruption. To that end, they formed a loose alliance to carry out different activities on anti-corruption measures like essay writing, debates and awareness campaigns among others.