In the media

A large number of parents have expressed their dissatisfaction over the way teachers are demanding money for the release of end-of-year results to their children. Parents are now calling on the minister of education to do something towards the extra charges in primary and secondary schools in order to up hold the free education scheme for all.

MPIGI district has dismissed over 73 primary school head teachers over incompetence and lack of proper academic qualifications. About 50 schools were given new head teachers. Over 100 teachers were examined. The exercise was part of the district's primary schools re-organisation programme aimed at improving education standards.

Over 300 ghost teachers have been registered in universal primary education schools in the Mukono district. According to the Chairman of the district education committee, five schools in the remote areas were headed by one person. The high number of fake teachers has led to poor performance in schools because of very few teachers compared to the number on the payroll.

The average salary for a teacher in the US is $47,000 a year. One thing that money doesn't account for is the time a teacher spends putting their lesson plans together. On the webpage 'Teacherspayteachers.com' is an open market place, teachers can sell their original course materials for instant downloads.

Sierra Leonean civil society activists are working to improve accountability. The National Accountability Group (NAG) – the local chapter of Transparency International – used a Public Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS) to find out what had happened to school fee subsidies and learning materials designated for a sample of 28 schools in a rural district. NAG's survey came after an earlier Ministry of Finance PETS revealed startling figures about education corruption. In 2002 researchers found that 45.1 percent of the funds for school fees subsidies were unaccounted for and that nearly 28 percent of teaching and learning materials had disappeared.

According to the education minister, primary school head teachers will be required to sign performance agreements every year. Many pupils had not attained the desirable learning competency in literacy and numeracy partly because of the slackness, absenteeism and lack of commitment from the head teachers. The assessment guidelines and the tracking of the teachers' performance will help to create a more fair and verifiable system.

A pilot program 'Fighting against corruption through schools' will teach students and parents to identify and act against dishonesty in their schools and the rest of society. Most civil servants in Cameroon, including teachers, earn low salaries and rely on bribes to feed their families.

The Mayor of Ngoma District has issued a stern warning to school headmasters who inflate school registers with non-existent students and charge high fees on students sponsored by charity organisations. The authorities would punish anyone found guilty.

According to Stossel there is a financial corruption going on in American schools. He claims that there is a myth that the education system needs more money. US spend more on schooling than the vast majority of countries that obtain better results in the international tests. But the bureaucrats still blame school failure on lack of funds, and demand more money.

The Ministry of education will probe private schools over irregularities in the fight against corruption. The education minister and the Board of audit and inspection will soon jointly select private schools suspected of mismanaging their schools. They will only investigate those which are suspected of mismanagement and corruption, rather than doing random investigation.