THE Education Ministry (MOE) will expand the Accredited Integrity Officer Programme to nurture more integrity officers with strategic and tactical approaches to support the integrity implementation and management in the ministry.

Its deputy secretary-general (Planning and Development) Noor Azman Abdul Rahman said this measure was taken as the ministry had a high number of staff and one of the largest allocations from the government and an internal control mechanism to reduce leakages was vital for every division and department in the ministry.

“Corruption, power abuse, leakages and negligence can stunt the development of an organisation but this can be overcome with integrity in the ministry’s support system.”

“I feel this integrity programme needs to be implemented continuously, directed at target groups to ensure that all efforts to ensure good practices at the ministry, department and school levels can be carried out effectively,” he said in his speech at the close of the programme’s Enhancing Integrity Project at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seri Pengkalan in Alor Gajah today.

He said the programme initially began with the involvement of headmasters with the state’s Malaysian School Principals Council, which was vital as they played the role of integrity ambassadors at the organisational level and to the public by disseminating information regarding integrity and corruption prevention.

“Realising the need for special training for MOE officers on the management and handling of integrity issues, the ministry’s integrity unit took the initiative to enlist 57 officers from the professional and management groups of divisions and agencies under the ministry to be a part of this programme,” he said. – Bernama, July 23, 2022.