In the media

A new report says corruption in education systems worldwide disproportionately burdens the poor. Transparency International said in a survey released on October 1 that almost one in five people worldwide paid bribes to education services last year.

While corruption hampers all development efforts, it is a debilitating presence in the education sector. Teacher absenteeism is one of the most serious forms of corruption in education. While there are many valid reasons for a teacher to be away from the classroom, some absences are clearly illegitimate.

Global Corruption Report: Education, released on 1st October, argues that corruption has not just raised the cost of higher education but has also hindered socio-economic progress in many African countries by diminishing the quality of university education.

People of India are deeply concerned about the form and extent of corruption in almost all walks of life. What is particularly alarming is the conspicuous corruption in higher education undermining the foundations of society. It has become so pervasive, making it difficult to assess the root

En dépit des progrès remarquables qui ont été réalisés ces dernières années dans le secteur de l'éducation primaire, la corruption reste un obstacle majeur au progrès, selon les déclarations des participants d'un atelier organisé par Transparency International. Les irrégularités dans la ..

Around two-thirds of China's top research universities still have policies that can be used to limit the proportion of women students, despite tighter government regulations issued this year against gender discrimination in universities and the workplace.

A fact-finding mission in Turkey by the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies, or IHRNASS, has concluded that criminal charges brought against eight leading academics and scientists are not supported by evidence.

A ruling by India's Supreme Court that appointments for highly specialised teaching positions in medical colleges cannot be subject to affirmative action caste-based quotas has led to a political uproar that has disrupted the current session of parliament, where a number of higher education bills are pending. The issue of caste reservations is highly political, with elections due in five states and national elections scheduled for 2013.

Educationists in Nairobi believe many would-be graduates are seeking essay and thesis writing services, undermining quality in higher education institutions. Such fraudulent academic businesses are said to be mushrooming around universities. While they are not a new phenomenon, they are growing along with the number of students in universities.

The Malaysian government announced the allocation of seats at public universities last week, and it sparked uproar among ethnic Chinese and Indians. Only 19% of places were awarded to Chinese and 4% to Indian students – and even some with the highest exam scores failed to gain a place on their preferred course. The ethnic breakdown of the Malaysian population is 23% Chinese and 7% Indian, while 60% are Malay according to the most recent census. The results prompted the treasurer general of the Malaysian Indian Congress,– to say it was "the most unfair and biased public university intake in the history of Malaysia".