Lutheran Academy student, Dašena Gombíkova
The Civil Association Against Corruption this year announced the literary competition entitled WE WANT LIFE WITHOUT BRIBES AND CORRUPTION. This second edition of the competition was attended by pupils grades 5-9 to include elementary through high school students from all over Slovakia. Participants were divided into two age categories. In the high school category, a student of the Lutheran Academy in Martin got rewarding silver.
The award ceremony took place on June 18 in Zilina.
Why did we let the situation go this far?
Dašena Gombíková, eighth-grader at the Lutheran Academy in Martin, earned a gratifying second place award among 47 competitors. This fourteen-year student chose the topic,
I HEARD ABOUT CORRUPTION IN THE MEDIA, which considers high-profile corruption cases. At the beginning of his work, the author asked the question “Why do we let the situation go this far?” To achieve their goals they often use a variety of bribery, theft and fraud.
To answer the question, Dašena looked to daily media broadcasts about bribery but also researched, “getting a college degree in a very short time.” The young author did not escape waiting lists for certain operations and also found fraud in politics and education. Dašena discovered that very rich people get rich from special circumstances. “Therefore at the end of the account, the author clearly states that, through corruption, greedy people indeed have greater wealth or other benefits without effort. They are however, robbing themselves of the things that are more precious than money or title – they are robbing themselves of knowledge and honesty.”
A variety of themes and options
The Civil Association Against Corruption is aware that the topics aimed at fighting corruption in society are more than necessary and genuinely welcome. The contest needed to bring this issue into the ranks of students and educational institutions. Teachers were so interested in the theme of the fight against bribery and corruption that it was mentioned in many lessons. Even the students of Lutheran Academy in Martin began to participate in the competition at the suggestion of teacher. The next challenge for each student was selecting a theme for the essay competition.
Fighting corruption
Each year the total number of reported crimes of corruption in Slovakia exceeds three hundred cases. The number of corruption crimes helps to determine the strategic plan for the Fight Against Corruption so that it complements various civic initiatives.
To educate and reduce corruption, The Civil Association Against Corruption seeks to “provide assistance in the fight against corruption and cronyism, but also to expose corruption and abuse of public resources.”
It is paradoxical to consider that even the concept ‘corruption’ is not defined as a term in our current legal system. It does not have a single definition that captures the common features of all the various forms of corrupt behavior. Throughout the world, corruption is a common dilemma. It takes very hard work to reduce it. Whether we understand the term passive bribery, corruption, bribery, trading in influence and electoral corruption (see Penal Code § 328 – §336a), an important collateral effect of these works is that it takes a broad effort go get the best possible solution.
