Values-Driven Education - Accountability

At the 6th Annual Exhibition of Institutions hosted by the National Council for Higher Education ARCC was asked to present a paper on "The Role of Universities in Advancing National Cohesion and Integration." The following is a portion of the paper presented by Jeff Atherstone, the Director of ARCC, on the role of values in education for advancing national cohesion and integration.

EXAMPLE #2 -ACCOUNTABILITY

This is a value that we see as essential for the future of our nation. With continual reports of corruption among our leaders unrest and division is surely to follow. So at Africa Renewal Christian College accountability starts at the top.

Each term in the final week before exams the Director of Africa Renewal Christian College gives a term-end report to the student body. This report gives a detailed summary of all fees collected, donations received and other streams of income to the institution during that period of the calendar year. Then a report is given of all operational and capital expense detailing the amount in Uganda Shillings as well as the percentage of the overall budget.

Why would a school go to such length to report to their students?

Because we have nothing to hide. We are accountable!

The first time this event took place it was actually to address concerns some students had expressed over the schools finances. At the time they felt that too much was being spent on construction not realizing that we had received a large sum of donations designated for new construction. Once the report was finished they were so grateful we figured it only made sense to continue the tradition.

When leaders are accountable the people follow.

We also require our students to be accountable whether it be in paying their fees, reporting on time to class, handing in their assignments or citing sources correctly within their papers. We believe that students must be held to rigid standards in their conduct and academics in order to help them develop into responsible and accountable adults.

For there to be true accountability there must be an instructive consequence for behavior that is not acceptable. I have noticed that when a student is caught dodging school fees, cheating on an exam or missing an assignment their immediate response is to plead for forgiveness. As Christians we believe strongly in forgiveness but that does not necessarily mean shielding the student from consequences. We can forgive a student for missing an assignment but that does not mean that we have to give them credit for work they did not do. We can forgive a student for cheating but that does not mean that we will still allow them to receive passing marks for that class. We do this because we believe that consequences are a great form of instruction, which can lead students to right behavior.

We have been asked before why we use the term accountability rather than integrity. At ARCC we believe that the two go hand in hand. If you are accountable you will be a person of integrity. If you are not accountable you will not be a person of integrity.