In the media

After several media reports that thousands of the Makerere university's alumni are potential fraudsters, several employers are contacting the transcript office for verification of academic documents. According to an officer at the Academic Registrar's office, bankers, customs officials and journalists have forged their paths to jobs they should never have had at all.

Makarere University, in Uganda, one of the most prestigious universities in Africa may revoke 200 degrees awarded in the past years after an internal committee charged with investigating academic fraud, discovered that students have been enrolled without any evidence that they met admissions criteria.

The Head of the Department of Economic Crimes Prevention of the Ministry of the Interior said in July 2006 that there were 210 cases of bribery registered in higher education institutions in that year, of which 11 were in Kiev. He mentioned a departmental chair in Lugansk who demanded that students pay his bills from the electronics and construction stores and he accepted cash as well. The corrupt chair was arrested while receiving a bribe of $2000. In yet another case, deputy-director of the Kiev National University's college was arrested while receiving a bribe of $6000. The number of investigated cases appears to be the tip of the iceberg as corruption in education is believed to be widespread.

Few people enter the teaching profession for the money. Teachers repeatedly describe it as "a vocation", widely recognized as a euphemism for poorly paid. But for a few enterprising teachers, the education system is rife with opportunities for personal financial gain. A report on corruption in education, published this week by UNESCO highlights ways in which heads, teachers and education officials can extort and embezzle school funds.

Thousands of teenagers are trying to cheat their way into university by plagiarising stories and phrases from the internet. One in 20 of Britain's brightest young brains is copying material from the web according to a study done by the Universities and Colleges Admission Service. The study, which involved examining 50,000 personal statements, found that 5% used material from the internet, most from one free website, but direct copying of large chunks was rarer - less than 1%.

Three former professors at Oral Roberts University have sued the evangelical institution in Tulsa (Okla) filing a petition in state court that accuses the university's president of using university resources to back a local mayoral candidate and to pay for an extravagant lifestyle for his family. The university released a statement denying the allegations.

According to a report elaborated by auditors from a nonprofit group based in Indiana, County principals have too much power and should be reined in to improve education in the school district. In order to avoid disparities, auditors have recommended limiting principal's powers and holding them for accountable for mistakes, as well as determining which decisions can be made at school level and which must be made by the central office.

After being audited by the College Board's first quality-control of the Advance Placement program, some teachers have met with a surprising rejection of their courses. The results of the audit have rubbed the already bruised relationship between some high school AP teachers and the college professors who are evaluating them.

Nichols and Berliner demonstrate that high-stakes testing is wrong—intellectually, morally, and practically. Not only will it "not work" to improve education, it is already doing demonstrable harm. Bringing together many press accounts of the negative impact of high stakes testing, Nichols and Berliner provide convincing argument that the punitive measures accompanying this testing is destroying America's greatest invention, its public schools.

The Education department must explain why it let a student loan company that an audit had found improper millions of dollars. The loan company received the payments through a subsidy program that guaranteed a 9.5 percent interest rate on student loans. In an accord reached in January, the department allowed it to keep the $278 million it had received but suspended future payments of more than $800 million until a future audit could determine whether the company was eligible for the money.