In the media

The Boarding Schools Association (BSA) chairman Melvyn Roffe has declared that thousands of vulnerable children are being denied the chance to go to a boarding school because of ignorance and prejudice in local councils. He has also stated that there are hundreds of children whose life would be transformed by having a place in one of those schools, but because of bureaucratic procedures they are condemned to an ever diminishing circle of failure.

The alleged peddling of diplomas to Chinese students has puzzled the universities implicated, which are now concerned over the effect of aspersions on the international renown of French tertiary training. Two inquiries – one judicial and one administrative – were opened up following complaints alleging that deals were done in which Chinese students were awarded diplomas in exchange for large amounts of money.

Several hundred Chinese students enrolled at the Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) at Toulon University, are thought to have bought their degrees. The preliminary inquiry begun on 26 March into "bribery, bribe-taking, and fraud" is investigating practices thought to have started four years ago.

A vigorous debate took place on the issue of corruption in education at the conference "What are You Going to do When You Start to Work?", organized by the NGOs Centre for Monitoring (CEMI) and Centre for Civic Education (CGO) with the support of the German Embassy in Montenegro. The conference was organized under the aegis of the project "Corruption in Education".

The Council for Degree Accreditation (KYSATS) and the Pancyprian Association of Medical Practitioners are investigating some Cypriot and Greek doctors accused of having bought fake medical degrees from Romanian universities. However, it has been confirmed that it would be very difficult to validate whether a degree was bought or earned, because they would not examine the candidates' knowledge, instead the procedures and whether all the procedures were followed and legal is what is going to be investigated.

Last year, the ombudsman for Andalusia received 150 complaints over the enrolment process, according to the 2008 report just published. This is why he favours harsher penalties for fraudulent applications as there are no clear-cut punitive measures that set an example. However, the province's education ministry maintains that punishment is not the best response, so no sanctions will be taken.

The evidence of corruption at Armenian higher schools must be presented to the RA Ministry of Education; RA Minister of Education told reporters that negative phenomena do exist in the field of education, just as in any other sphere of social life, and pointed out that they will struggle against them.

The "Miasin" youth movement has launched an anti-corruption drive in several of Yerevan's colleges and universities that features the photographs of bribe-taking teachers being pasted. On the walls of buildings located next to Yerevan State University there are photos of at least twenty faculty and administration members with the word "bribe taker" written on them.

Corruption is simultaneously a cause and a symptom of Ukrainian education system situation. The outdated teaching methods, underpaid and uninspired teachers the critical lack of resources and the disconnection between primary, secondary and post graduated education, show the need of the system to be reformed in order to be use full to a globalized world an a fluid society.

The AITES Academy, which provides vocational training and saw hundreds of its nightclub doorman's certificates falsified, took its case to the Direcció General de Jocs i Espectacles de la Generalitat some six months ago to inform that the seal of the centre was being used to issue certificates whereas the corresponding training was not done. Police are continuing to investigate the matter and at least 400 fraudulent authorizations have been uncovered.