In the media

A study emphasizes the need for AI ethical charters in academic settings, aiming to ensure responsible and fair AI applications across research, teaching, and learning domains. Key voices highlighted the importance of such charters in promoting responsible AI use, transparency, accountability, and the mitigation of biases or ethical concerns. However, some academics underscored that implementing a charter alone might not suffice, emphasizing the need to integrate ethical values into foundational teaching.

Corruption and impunity in the Nigerian university system have had a negative impact on the governance of Federal tertiary institutions and the quality of education received by students. In a recent report, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project stated that various allegations of corruption in federal universities ranging from the unfair award of degrees, inflation of contracts, and cuts in staff salaries to the employment of unqualified staff and sexual harassment - are now widespread, and the condition of most of the structures housing the various faculties and departments of these institutions is poorly maintained.

The Department of Education (DepEd) was asked to take accountability and corruption cases that led to the alleged fire sale of laptops in retail and online stores. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines said that DepEd failed to pay its contractor in the handling and distribution of billions of pesos worth of laptops to public schools which caused the subcontractors to sell the items to surplus shops to recover their investments. ACT called for a comprehensive report on how DepEd used its funds as well as a concrete plan on how public funds can be recovered, and projects still be realized.

According to the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA), at least one out of every three people employed in Kenya has a fake academic certificate, i.e. About 30 per cent (at least 250,000) of the civil service workforce. In March 2023, the Kenya Medical Training College revoked the admission of 53 medical trainees after it was discovered that they had joined the institution using fake secondary school certificates. The Public Service Commission and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission then ordered all public and private employers to conduct audits of employees' academic qualifications over the past ten years to ensure their accountability.

Penn's Center for Community Standards and Accountability released its annual disciplinary report, which indicates that academic integrity and student conduct violation cases have gotten closer to pre-pandemic levels. While there was a decrease in total conduct and academic violations from the 2020-2021 academic year, the data remained relatively consistent with years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new national agency for the evaluation and accreditation of Higher Education institutions and research centres in Tunisia aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the country’s universities and develop a research system of international quality. However, the Union of Tunisian University teachers criticised the establishment of the agency and called on the Ministry to be transparent and explain how the agency will be funded, at what cost to taxpayers, and what accountability mechanism will be used to stop the wastage of public money and nepotism.

Several pedagogical experts took part in a workshop in June 2022 to develop educational programmes on the fight against corruption and good governance organised by the High Authority for Good Governance. The project aims to instil integrity, transparency, and accountability in learners from preschool to higher education, including secondary schools and training schools for public officials.

A recent study in Kenya found that 68% of respondents had engaged in some form of misconduct, while 36% admitted that they had engaged in the more serious breaches of fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism. To promote ethical research practices, transparency, equity, accountability and rigour across the continent, the African Research Integrity Network (ARIN) has been launched. It will be registered in different countries where nodes will be established.

To prevent the forging of information, a new digital platform will allow learners from primary to university levels to have an identification number. Schools will update data about their learners, teaching and non-teaching staff, infrastructure and facilities including physical education and sports through their online EMIS user accounts. The new system is aimed to eliminate ghost workers and improve transparency and accountability across the country.

The University of Energy and Natural Resources in Ghana and the University of Rwanda have been the only African public universities providing reports including information such as the university structure, number and qualifications of academic and support staff, total enrolment, and the number of graduates. These reports are a model for universities to adopt and a means of promoting transparency, integrity, and accountability amongst faculty members, staff, students, and communities.