In the media

Lecturers in universities and colleges as well as teachers in public and private schools who are found guilty of abusing students risk having their degrees and diplomas cancelled by the Government to curb rampant abuse, especially of female learners. The Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development said there was an urgent need to curb the surge in sexual abuse of learners in schools, colleges and universities. Punishments such as imprisonment or expulsion from work was not enough since perpetrators always ended up teaching elsewhere using their diplomas or degrees.

A mass exodus of teaching staff is looming at Likhubula Primary School in Chilomoni Township, Blantyre after 28 teachers asked for postings from the school following a stand-off that has arisen between the teachers and the surrounding community. In a letter, the teachers say they do not feel safe at their current workplace after the community openly accused them of misusing the school’s funds. The Chilomoni Ward Councilor accused the teachers of corruption when collecting funds from pupils and when handling other projects at the school.

Cheating on a very large scale has just been unveiled in England. Reprehensible acts by both students and teachers have been uncovered during the OCR (for Oxford, Cambridge and RSA examinations), run by one of the most renowned exam boards in the country. In order to pass the UK’s most prestigious competitive examinations, 2300 teachers between 2012 and 2016 helped their pupils obtain better marks. In the same period, 3 602 pupils are accused of cheating. More than half of these teachers were accused of "inappropriate assistance" during written tests, to help their students achieve better results.

Student researchers found guilty of plagiarism may lose their registration and teachers could lose their jobs as the HRD ministry approved new regulations on plagiarism drafted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in New Delhi. In March this year, the UGC had approved the regulations prescribing graded punishment for plagiarism. In case the similarities are between 40% and 60%, students will be banned from submitting a revised paper for one year. A student's registration for a programme will be cancelled if the similarities are above 60%

Tales of corruption in Nigeria are many in number. One example is the case of the clerk at the state examinations board who was called to account for the disappearance of $100,000 in exam fees. An analyst of the country says: "There's this perception among officials in Nigeria that national government is there to divide up the booty of oil wealth." That political culture then filters through to layers below, to the point where even local police or school teachers or receptionists at public hospitals may consider it their right to demand bribes. "It's about people monetizing their position in society so that even people with the lowest amount of authority will use that to extract a small amount."

The police are carrying out a fraud investigation into a languages teacher who claimed extra cash from parents for school trips. The teacher who planned three residential trips for the 2017 summer term asked parents at a school in Huntingdon for additional "behaviour deposits" and charged pupils 20 euros each just to board the coach. The Teacher Regulation Agency professional concluded the teacher's conduct "fell short of the expected standards of the profession" and "the offence of fraud is relevant".

Over 500 candidates had to re-sit for their Primary School Leaving Examinations after the National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA) discovered that some schools had leaked the examinations. According to the NECTA executive secretary, the leaked examinations were distributed through WhatsApp groups and primary schools. This was done in a well-orchestrated collaboration involving owners of the schools, supervisors, and authorities responsible for storing the exam papers at Nyanduga Primary School, Rorya.

After an attempt to cheat in the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations, the Teachers Service Commission has commenced disciplinary action against errant teachers of a Kisii school, Nairobi. The Teachers Service Commission Chief Executive said seven teachers and a school principal are already facing action. Capital FM News established that a Chemistry paper had been sneaked out of the examination room but was quickly confiscated when the attempt to compromise the exam occurred at Monianku Secondary School.

Corruption is part of the daily life of Tanzanians. Teachers accept bribes for letting their students pass their exams and even for enrolling children in school. Moreover, they pay bribes to get a promotion or to be transferred to a more comfortable place. The “United for Our Rights” project implemented by the European Union and two Tanzanian non-governmental organizations aims to empower citizens to better understand their rights and how to address corruptions and governance issues.

Following a visit to six primary and secondary schools in Chattogram, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) found most of the teachers absent. The anti-corruption watchdog sent recommendation letters urging the Ministry of education to initiate a ‘crash program’ in order to bring discipline in the entire education system. ACC also asked the Ministry of education to take emergency steps to suppress irregularities, corruption, and mismanagement in the education sector.