In the media

The Kenyan government ordered an audit of 790 public secondary schools as part of the 2024/2025 financial review to enhance transparency in the education sector. The audit will examine financial management systems and procurement, with officials required to provide relevant documentation. Authorities aim to strengthen internal controls, ensure compliance with financial rules and safeguard public funds.

In Nigeria, the Zamfara State Universal Basic Education Board launched an Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) to strengthen integrity in basic education management. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission officials emphasized that the unit should act as a supportive mechanism, not an adversarial body. ACTU’s responsibilities include reviewing processes, conducting staff sensitisation, enforcing ethical standards, and conducting preliminary investigations.

In its fight against forged certificates and corruption, Kuwait ordered all public and private sector employees to verify their academic certificates via the Sahel e-government app. The Civil Service Commission highlighted penalties of imprisonment and fines for using forged certificates. The move falls within ongoing efforts to combat forged certificates in both the public and private sectors to ensure academic integrity, equality and justice.

The Zimbabwean Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education warned that teachers who charge students for extra lessons face disciplinary consequences, as they are already paid by the Government to teach. He urged parents to report such practices through official complaint channels, starting with the class teacher, then the school head, district, provincial offices, and finally the ministry’s head office or courts. He also condemned schools forcing parents to buy uniforms from them, calling the practice illegal.

Uzbekistan’s Anti-Corruption Agency reported 5,222 corruption-related crimes in 2025, an 8.6% decrease from 5,716 cases in 2024. The healthcare, preschool and secondary education sectors, and local governments had the most offences, with over 300 cases linked to local administrations, mostly involving mayoral assistants. 192 public procurement contracts worth UZS 673.3 billion led to administrative and disciplinary actions. In 2026, authorities are introducing a new anti-corruption system and aim to fully digitize the process to eliminate the human factor.

Senators urged the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to closely monitor diploma mills offering unaccredited graduate programs after around 100 teachers in Palawan reportedly paid for online courses that were later not recognized. The school involved allegedly offered an unauthorized extension program and is now under investigation. Officials encouraged teachers to verify programs through the Philippine Teacher Education Registry (PhilTER) database, while CHED also acknowledged staffing shortages in regional offices that make monitoring difficult.

The Benue State Education Quality Assurance Board (BEQAEB) rejected claims of fraud, stating that all regulatory actions are backed by law. Its Executive Secretary emphasized efforts to strengthen school monitoring, accreditation, and enforcement. The state enabled major investments in education, including new school buildings, renovations, and the recruitment of over 9,000 teachers, with the sector receiving over 15% of the 2025 budget and 25.29% in 2026. Scepticism emerges from exorbitant charges by certain schools to the BEQAEB.

The South African government has identified 8,854 high-risk cases in its effort to eliminate ghost work in the public sector. In its process to verify all its employees, the highlighted cases were identified to show payment irregularities that need to be clarified in an outstanding audit. As part of the efforts to address this issue, the Education Labour Relations Council is undertaking physical verification of teachers and learners in order to identify possible ghost teachers and ensure spending efficiency.

A Supreme Court mandate has prompted an expansive audit of private, non-government, and deemed universities in India. The directive follows a student's conflict over a name amendment, revealing larger concerns about administrative transparency and governance within these institutions, and in particular the prevalence of slow or ineffective grievance response systems within Indian higher education. Other areas where opaque practices are often reported, such as admission, recruitment and use of funds, are also now under direct examination.

The Nigerian National Universities Commission (NUC) has banned the awarding of honorary degrees to serving public officials. This decision was taken after an investigation found that honorary degrees are being used as a way to fraudulently gain the title ‘Dr’. The head of NUC warned that misuse of honorary titles undermines the integrity of universities and diminishes public trust in genuine academic qualifications. The report identified 32 Nigerian institutions operating as honorary degree mills.