In the press

An increasing number of college students in China are hiring surrogates to take English-language examinations for them. The business of hiring a "gunman" is growing at an unprecedented rate on campuses. In order to graduate from a bachelor's program, all students are required to pass English proficiency exams know as the College English Test Level 4. Fees for a pass in the CET-4 are around US$120. Many of the ads are placed by agencies which also propose tests such as TOEFL and IELTS, for which agencies charge as much as $1,500 for a pass.

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."

The government urges that exam papers should be scanned by specialist computer software as part of a crackdown on internet plagiarism by A-level and GSCE pupils in their compulsory coursework. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority warns that exam boards appear to be failing to spot cheating, even though the number of cases of fraud is increasing. Last year 3,600 teenagers were caught breaching the rules, a 9 % rise on the previous year.

Nearly 50 English language teachers from Canada have been arrested on suspicion of working illegally or having fraudulent qualifications. Officials put the number of English teachers working legally in South Korea at 7,800. The number of those working without the necessary documentation is believed to be around 20,000. An increase in the number or private schools is blamed for the rise in illegal workers.

The education ministry has failed to take action against teachers and other education officers identified as guilty of misconduct by various investigations and commissions over the years. Affairs between schoolgirls and teachers, and schools misusing equipment given to them to improve the quality of education are among the countless problems that had emerged from investigations.

Fifteen of the 80 students enrolled with the Namibia College of Open Learning will not write their end of year exams after a teacher allegedly misappropriated their examination fees. It is suspected he used the money to settle personal accounts. The students will not be able to sit their exams this year as the fraud was discovered too late.

A report on examination malpractice rating of states and the six geo-political zones, conducted by Exam Ethics Project, has revealed an increase of 40 percent in the practice between 2003 and 2004, against a corresponding increase of 276 percent between 1999 and 2004.

A secondary school head teacher has finally allowed internal auditors from the regional education office to audit schoolbooks where money is reported to have gone missing. Apart from being barred from the school, the auditors were also threatened with legal action by the head teacher.

The Ministry of Education is to launch an investigation into rotting maize meal for its school feeding programme found at a school. 500 bags of maize meal had been stored at a secondary school and not delivered to the intended beneficiaries. The company Meal Management Services holds the contract for the supply and delivery of food to primary schools in six regions.

The minister of education underlines the sector's engagement in the fight against corruption at schools, thus calling on the citizen's cooperation. The campaign "Olympiad of Knowledge" aims to pay homage to the best students. The minister underlines that bribe and corruption only postpone or compromise the quality of student's future.