In the media

Indonesia's Attorney General's Office is investigating alleged widespread corruption in an IDR 9.9 trillion (approx. $619 million) laptop procurement project (2019-2022) at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. Investigators suspect significant price markups, volume reductions, or even fictitious procurement of educational assets.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EEAC) has uncovered bribery, corruption, procurement irregularities, and fraudulent acquisition of public property in five public universities in Kenya. These malpractices have resulted in the loss of 6.4 billion shillings in public funds. The universities are now under investigation for criminal offenses.

More than three million students in India have been affected by a failure of the National Examination System in the entrance exams for top courses such as medicine and PhDs. Many students are furious and blame the institutions for the scandal. The police is investigating the leak of examination papers.

Anti-corruption policies strengthen the capacities to respond to current challenges in democracies. In this regard, the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention has been a strategic cornerstone in fighting against corruption globally in the past 25 years. OECD is fostering international cooperation to overcome corruption with the participation of global civil society.

Cheating in school is an age-old problem, but new technologies have made it easier. Mobile phones in particular allow students to peek at notes during exams, text their friends for homework answers, or even use AI apps to solve a problem. Educators and institutions are deploying various measures to combat cheating. But is it enough to safeguard the integrity of exams?

According to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, the widespread incidents of sextortion and academic fraud at the country's higher and tertiary learning institutions is a serious threat to the integrity of the degrees and diploma qualifications.

Students who cheat in exams could now face fines of up to AED200,000.

With exams just around the corner, students from Bournemouth University talk about what academic integrity means to them, how using it means they get better marks, how to avoid committing an academic offence and where to get help when they need it.

Thousands of KwaZulu-Natal children have been forced to go to school on an empty stomach. This comes after the collapse of the KZN National School Nutrition Programme due to tender irregularities and corruption. The provincial Department of Education is yet to provide information regarding this issue.

A news report states that in a rush to meet educational requirements for elections, several politicians in Kenya opted for dubious degrees and could be among those losing their certificates in an audit ordered by the Education Cabinet Secretary. The guilty institutions could also lose their charters.