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Lawmakers in Ondo State have approved a jail term of between three and four years or a fine for principals who engage in examination malpractices in public schools. Any candidate who leaves an examination hall with intent to cheat or secure any unfair advantage for himself risk to pay a fine and/or three years imprisonment.

The president of the Computer Professionals Registration Council has given further insights as to why it is necessary to accredit members and operators in the sector. The president will put an end to the proliferation of all sorts of sub-standard computer schools in order to set a higher standard of erudition and professionalism. This will make it possible to begin to export manpower to other countries.

An auditor has been charged for having changed business records in an effort to help conceal the theft of more than $11 million. The district superintendent is accused of stealing more than $2 million; the assistant superintendent for $4 million and a former school accounting clerk for $780,000. Money shall have been used on artwork, jewellery, foreign trips and home mortgages. The scandal that has resulted in a state-wide changes in the way school finances are audited.

The World Bank Country Director in Nigeria has said that Nigeria's audit system has so many weaknesses that it can encourage corruption and financial mismanagement. He pointed out that there is a need to re-draft the country's audit laws, which were made in 1966.

Beijing municipality is revising the existing norms on professional ethics for the primary and middle school teachers. The revision will involve setting up of a series of systems concerning the post responsibility, and supervision and punishment of teachers in implementing the norms of the professional ethics. Unqualified teachers will be removed from the profession.

The Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning recently conducted its first external quality assurance audit on the Namibian College of Open Learning (Namcol) to determine whether the latter's system and procedures are in line with international best practices. The goal is to improve accountability and the promotion of high quality programme delivery.

The Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS) is accusing some private school operators of charging sky-high prices despite the Ministry of Education approving school fees for them, based on the grade of school. The level of school fees are stated in the constitution and should, according to GNAPS, be respected by both public and private schools.

231 students have obtained degree certificates from a Nairobi university with no official sanction to operate. As a result the certificates risk be useless. The Government did nothing to stop these students pursuing an expensive four-year programme.

The Minister of Secondary Education has declared that advancements in IT is one of the factors behind increasing fraud registered at certificate examinations. This year's innovation had to do with the use of a scanner to print pictures of candidates on their individual timetables, which unfortunately served as a passport to get into the examination room. Watchdog committees made up of even illiterates "but reputable persons" have been set up to monitor the running of the examinations across the country.

Recently 231 university students learnt that the degrees they had been awarded were recognized. The university in question, Newport University, which also exists in the USA, is not accredited by any agency recognised by the US Department of Education. It is one of several institutions operating in California without accreditation but with licensure by the Bureau of Private and Vocational Higher Education of the State of California.