About 16 per cent of students in higher institutions of learning (IPT) are willing to accept bribes if they have the opportunity and power to do so, says Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy chief commissioner Shamsun Bahrin Mohd Jamil.
He said the figure was obtained from a Corruption Prevention Action Effectiveness Perception Study among students by MACC last year, but he did not divulge the number of students involved in the study.
"The figure is worrying because only 10.7 percent of the students in 2015 and 11.3 percent in 2014 had stated their willingness to receive bribes," he told a media conference after the signing of a Corruption-Free Pledge (IBR) at Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) level at the university campus in Arau, Perlis, today.
A total 15 UniMAP deans and department heads signed and swore the IBR, headed by vice-chancellor Prof Dr Zul Azhar Zahid Jamal and witnessed by Perlis MACC director, Yaacob Angah.
The study also found 18.2 percent of the students were prepared to give bribes to avoid action, an increase of 0.8 percent from 17.4 percent in 2015, said Shamsun Bahrin.
He said a study also found the number of students who were willing to report corruption cases had dropped to 66.3 percent compared to 74.1 percent in 2015 and 74.9 in 2014.
He said MACC data from 2011 until today showed that only 162 individuals dared to come forward and informed the agency about corruption cases.
According to Shamsun Bahrin, MACC launched the Anti-Corruption Hero (WAR) campaign and set up the Corruption Prevention Secretariat (SPR) at IPTs (20), Teachers' Education Institutes (IPG) (27) and Mara Education Institutes IPMa) (47) to create a hate corruption culture among the groups.
Zul Azhar said UniMAP was proud to be the second public university after Universiti Teknikal Malaysia (UTeM) to sign and take the IBR pledge.
He said UniMAP also handed over a proposal paper for the setting up of an Accredited Uniformed Body 'UniMAP MACC Student Troop' to Shamsun Bahrin who represented MACC.
- Bernama
