In the media

Ghost teachers and fund leakage continue to plague schools in Nigeria’s Gombe district. Despite biometric verification of all civil servants (including teachers) since 2019, the system was never fully automated and significant gaps remain in the process. As a result, some absent teachers continue to receive a paycheck while those who are present may wait months to be paid. Education experts suggested increased transparency and citizen oversight could help tackle this issue.

The Delhi government has launched the School Web App, a unified digital platform for students, parents, and teachers that aims to centralize school services like timetables, homework, attendance, performance tracking, and parent-teacher communication. In line with the goals of Digital India and the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, proponents argue that the education system will become more transparent, accessible and accountable by reducing paperwork.

A recent verification exercise has revealed that the government of Kenya has been disbursing Ksh.1.1 billion to ghost students in public schools over the years. The number could even be higher, considering that the verification process is not complete, with 934 schools yet to present their data to the ministry. The verification process has already led to the closure of 10 secondary schools that the Ministry of Education says had no students.

The Federal Government has unveiled a landmark initiative aimed at entrenching transparency, accountability, and efficiency in Nigeria’s tertiary education system with the official launch of the Federal Government Tertiary Institution Governance and Transparency Platform (FTIGTP). The initiative will serve as a unified digital platform providing real-time access to accurate data and financial information across all tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The platform aims not only to strengthen public confidence but also improve efficiency in the management of educational resources and foster innovation.

To address corruption in Ukraine’s education sector, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention has held an event to publish its “Education Integrity Development Strategy for 2026–2030”. The campaign aims to instil a culture of honesty, transparency and ethical behaviour across all levels of education. It plans concrete reforms, including updating teaching materials and teacher training in integrity.

Kuwait’s Education Minister formed a committee to check for procurement irregularities and review 115 schoolbook printing and supply contracts for the 2025/2026 school year. The panel, comprising legal and Fatwa Department experts, will audit bids, exclusions, and deadlines, and will have one month to provide their findings and recommendations.

Libya’s Ministry of Education employs 600,000 people, but only 180,000 are active teachers, highlighting inefficiencies in the system. The acting Education Minister plans to introduce a “class allowance” to reward teachers who actually teach. Investigations also revealed widespread corruption in the printing and distribution of schoolbooks, with costs nearly halved by producing them locally.

A technical review of Ghana’s computerized school placement system is underway as the Ministry of Education seeks to boost transparency, fairness, and efficiency in senior high school admissions. The review, led by a team of education managers, ICT experts, and student and parent representatives, aims to modernize the system and restore public confidence in one of the country’s key education gateways.

Hong Kong universities face a growing challenge of admissions fraud, with police receiving 126 reports of allegedly fraudulent academic qualifications in just the first seven months of 2025. Universities reported rejecting several hundred applications suspected of falsified credentials. Authorities are introducing AI-assisted verification, rigorous checks, and anti-fraud training to safeguard higher education integrity.

Machine learning analysis found that around 10% of cancer research papers over the past 25 years, including top journals, were linked to retracted paper mill publications, rising to 15% recently. Flagged papers appeared in multiple countries e.g. China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, or Egypt, highlighting a global challenge to medical research reliability and integrity.