In the media

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.

The Central Bureau of Investigation of India uncovered a massive medical education scam involving 34 accused individuals – among them senior health officials and private college leaders – affecting over 40 institutions nationwide. Eight people have been arrested so far, including three doctors, linked to bribes totaling at least 5.5 million rupees (approx. 65,000 USD). The scam involved bribery, forgery, fake faculty, and manipulated inspections.

The University of Regina (U of R) has observed a surge in cheating cases, particularly in its Nursing Program, during final exams. Around 50 out of 1,200 nursing students are under investigation for academic integrity concerns. Factors contributing to this increase include students' unfamiliarity with exam regulations due to pandemic-related disruptions and improper use of Artificial Intelligence tools. Penalties for academic misconduct range from warnings to expulsion.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, the HEC business school has introduced an online monitoring system for exams that detects the slightest move and tracks down suspected cheaters. The National Commission for Information Technology and Civil Liberties, seized by students from several higher education institutions, will ensure the legality of these virtual monitors.

To guarantee the academic integrity and legitimacy of the evaluations and exams during the health crisis of COVID-19, Madrid Complutense University was able to take advantage of their existing remote digital media. To avoid fraud, the identity of students during oral exams is verified using video-conferencing tools, and access codes are personal and non-transferable. This is done under the oversight of the Computer Services department. For handwritten tests, students send a scanned handwritten text to the University Virtual Campus.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, most universities have decided to implement remote mid-term exams, but this is causing great difficulties for educational bodies that are unable to neutralize the great number of cheaters. From Google use to classmates who publish half of the answers on Facebook, students all over France are publicly bragging about cheating during exams.

Boston University is investigating cheating after chemistry and physics students used the Chegg tutoring service to ask questions and get answers to online quizzes and exams. The university expects students to continue to behave ethically through remote learning in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Hunan University of Technology in central China introduced a new free tool to limit plagiarism on campuses. Students could check their final dissertation with an online database to see how much of each paper’s content is copied from existing publications. A former director of the People’s Liberation Army’s Institute for Disease Control and Prevention plagiarised the work of another Ph.D. student in his final thesis. He was stripped of his doctorate after being found guilty of cheating 12 years after receiving.

Two people are in hot water after allegedly defrauding the Mpumalanga Department of Education of an estimated R6-million. The two appeared in the Nelspruit Regional Court on Thursday over their alleged involvement in a bogus school-feeding scheme. The Hawks said that in 2011 the accused allegedly submitted several fraudulent invoices to the Department of Education for services never rendered. An employee of the Department of Health allegedly recruited owners of various companies to submit these invoices. The money was allegedly deposited into the said businesses accounts, as well as individual accounts and was subsequently withdrawn and shared amongst the syndicate.

Thousands of UK nationals have bought fake degrees from a multi-million pound "diploma mill" in Pakistan, a BBC Radio 4's File on Four programme investigation has found. Buyers include NHS consultants, nurses and a large defence contractor. One British buyer spent almost £500,000 on bogus documents. The Department for Education said it was taking "decisive action to crack down on degree fraud" that "cheats genuine learners