In the media

The second university ethics and good governance movement summit has kicked off yesterday in Jimma University. Federal ethics and anti-corruption commission Head said universities should pay equal attention to producing ethical graduates as much as training competent ones. The Head added major construction projects at universities, bids on purchases, student canteen services, etc. should be based on accountability and transparency.

The executive Director of the School of Journalism, Sciences Po, is accused of copying/pasting extracts of articles in her chronicles on the Huffington Post, without quoting her sources. The Director of the School of journalism wrote to both students and staff stating that: "the school, that teaches deontology, cannot take lightly such affairs".

Last September, a declaration aimed at mainstreaming ethics and anti-corruption in higher education was endorsed by the 68 member universities of the Compostela Group of Universities and subsequently also by the World University Consortium and the World Academy of Art and Science, a global network of 700+ university

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has opened a probe of World Peace University, which seems to grant honorary degrees in exchange for money, a practice the "university" insists is ethical and legal. The DSI said it received a complaint that the operation of World Peace cheats the public, with awards of degrees without normal university merit.

Irish universities have been criticized for being linked to corrupt and unethical regimes. The former head of the Bahrain campus of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has commented that third-level Irish institutions are "intimately engaged with regimes that have human rights" questions to answer".

A recent order has fuelled student anger. It is known as: "On the approval of the procedure for the introduction of disciplinary measures for students". Presented by the Ministry of Education and Science, the order allows students to be expelled from universities for the slightest violations of institutions' "codes of ethics" and in particular for participation in political protests and actions.

For years, Greek higher education has been operating a system in which academic freedom has been interpreted in a broad context and has been used to justify a range of otherwise unethical and even illegal actions. Almost all stakeholders, including Greece's political parties, have taken advantage of the loose interpretation of academic freedom.

The Niger State Governor has called on the Teachers' Registration Council to go beyond the registration of qualified teachers and enforce basic ethics for teachers, as is being done in other professions. A representative of the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) also stated teaching could only be a respected profession if there is standard ethics.

An international forum has developed a code of ethics to apply to education agents and consultants who recruit international students for universities, colleges and schools around the world. The forum says the code and an accompanying statement of principles it has also published will facilitate a common approach and raise ethical standards in the recruitment of international students by education agents and consultants.

Gross moral turpitude on the part of a few teachers in the form of sexual assault on female students and deviation from professional ethics by a section of teachers in different tiers of education have become a subject matter of discussion, not only among the guardians but also with almost everyone concerned with education in Bangladesh.