In the media

Politicians obliged universities to hire friends in return for help in ensuring a steady flow of funds. By forging documents and bribing appropriate officials, university staff secure larger retirement checks than they are entitled to and retire before the customary age.

The U.S. Education Department last week proposed new rules that would loosen a ban on incentive compensation for college recruiters and get rid of a financial-aid regulation. The proposal to eliminate the 12-hour rule follows years of debate. Distance-education providers have pushed the department and Congress to throw out the regulation, but others have cited fears that relaxing the rule would lead to fraud.

La Commission de l'éthique et de la lutte contre la corruption (Celc) a animé une conférence-débat le 6 mai à l'Université de Kinshasa pour sensibiliser les étudiants sur la manière de tourner le dos aux anti-valeurs. A Brazzaville, le professeur d'université toucherait 1.200 dollars Us, en Angola, 2.000 dollars Us, en Ouganda, 2.500 dollars Us. Des salaires bas peuvent "encourager" la corruption dans les établissements scolaires.

According to investigations conducted in Nicaragua, among the 3 500 teachers from autonomous colleges who actually collect a salary on a monthly basis, in reality only 1 945 of them are actually teaching. At least 555 individual salaries are therefore paid to fictitious teachers or to individuals falsely (fraudulently) using the names of teachers.

In spring 2004 interviews were conducted with 43 rectors, vice rectors, and administrators at five private universities. A consensus emerged that successful licensing or accreditation applications, with few exceptions, required some form of bribery. Licensing might require a bribe of US$ 200 about two months' salary for a typical academic - while accreditation might call for a 10 or 20 times greater "gratuity."

If the academic profession does not maintain adequate income levels, academic performance throughout the system inevitably suffers. Academics must receive sufficient remuneration to live an appropriate middle-class lifestyle. Through an Egyptian example of university professors demanding sums of money to their students, this article deals with the inevitable consequences of inadequate academic salaries.

A student at a university in Osh is elected by his classmates to pay the bribes necessary for his classmates to get the grades they want. Typically, a student who chooses to buy an education pays about $40 to $50 per semester. Many professors are willing to accept bribes simply to meet basic needs. Salaries for teachers rarely exceed $100 a month.

Kyrgyz are now focusing on a new standardized test that officials contend will help eradicate graft in universities. Low teacher salaries and the long-standing practice of selling grades make that target a challenge. Many students simply purchase their degrees. In exchange, the instructor allows him to pass without taking exams, or completing the assignments.

Unauthorized payments of allowances, bonuses and enhanced pensions for some university staff over several years have been revealed in a report from Ireland's public spending watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General.

A seven-month investigation revealed that a number of Chile's universities are illegally operating as profit-oriented businesses. According to a report conducted by a special investigation committee, eight universities violated anti-profiteering laws amidst findings of increased salaries among executives, circulation of finances between companies under the same private ownership and outsourcing of services as means of generating revenue.