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The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the Election Commission of Pakistan have locked horns over the verification of fake university degrees held by members of the federal and provincial assemblies, as the scandal spread to qualifications obtained at high school.

As Pakistan's Election Commission began its first hearings into parliamentarians' fake degrees last week some feared the scandal had been pushed out of the limelight by the devastating floods. Nonetheless, the degree debacle is straining the credibility of the country's higher education and election systems.

The commission in Cameroon responsible for assessing higher education qualifications issued abroad has exposed more than 300 cases of fraudulent diplomas, reported Quotidien Mutations info of Yaoundé.

The University of Tokyo will overhaul its thesis examination process and throw the book at anyone found to have plagiarized other people's work, according to the university President. The tighter screening and tougher penalties come after the university last month effectively dismissed a Turkish assistant professor and revoked his doctorate after finding he had falsified his academic credentials and plagiarized major portions of his doctoral thesis.

Last year 68 Emiratis were blacklisted from the US for buying qualifications from online "degree mills". Authorities at the time said that those caught using fake degrees could be punished with up to 24 years in prison. However, the problem persists. It is suspected that although the university is registered as a company in the US, the operations were in the Dubai, from where they send fake qualifications around the world

In one hour, and for about 38 dollars, you can get a false university degree in China, but the enforcement of punishment is making it ever more difficult to use such fraud to find a job or get into a foreign university. The measures introduced by China have curbed fraud and many fake degrees are now detected through authentication procedures; however, some genuine diplomas have been awarded to bogus students.

The alleged peddling of diplomas to Chinese students has puzzled the universities implicated, which are now concerned over the effect of aspersions on the international renown of French tertiary training. Two inquiries – one judicial and one administrative – were opened up following complaints alleging that deals were done in which Chinese students were awarded diplomas in exchange for large amounts of money.

The Council for Degree Accreditation (KYSATS) and the Pancyprian Association of Medical Practitioners are investigating some Cypriot and Greek doctors accused of having bought fake medical degrees from Romanian universities. However, it has been confirmed that it would be very difficult to validate whether a degree was bought or earned, because they would not examine the candidates' knowledge, instead the procedures and whether all the procedures were followed and legal is what is going to be investigated.

The public prosecutor for economic crime in Mar de Plata is investigating 96 officers suspected of using falsified secondary-education degrees in order to get promoted. He also stated that a preliminary report by the Buenos Aires ministry of education has confirmed that 250 such certificates presented by police officers are being checked and at least 96 are false.