Search Page

The Libyan authorities announced on Thursday that they were opening investigations following an outcry over revelations of generous scholarships to study in Turkey for relatives of senior government officials. The beneficiaries of the scholarships had surprising profiles: a 74-year-old woman receiving a grant of more than 2,700 dollars a month to study computer science in Turkey and two brothers aged 57 and 70 accompanied by 10 and 15 members of their families at public expense. The lists include "1,895 scholarship holders" to whom a total of more than 14 million euros is paid each quarter.

Most PhD holders in Morocco do not trust universities' processes for recruiting assistant professors due to suspicions of political affiliation, nepotism, and bribery. 80% of PhD holders indicated that the existence of several unethical practices is the main reason behind their lack of trust, including political affiliation (86%), bribery (68.3%), relationship, affinity, and family relations (48.8%). Over 88% of those who obtained their PhDs in the past year said they had not had a chance to go through the oral recruitment interview, with only 3% saying they had two interviews.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) is investigating dozens of cases involving politicians, State and public officers over forged degrees, illegal allocation of resources, irregular employment, and approval of suspected pending bills. According to EACC’s chief executive officer, money and assets will be recovered from politicians who used forged academic certificates to win elective posts, even from those who retired.

The nominee for Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of South Korea had to withdraw over allegations of misconduct during his term as president of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. He favoured all his family members for prestigious Fulbright scholarships to study in the United States. He also faced allegations of improperly holding an additional position at a company irrelevant to his subject of study.

The vice-president of the Ceylon Teachers Union has accused the Northern Province of misleading the education administration into corruption and bribery for years. Governors had been informed on several occasions about malpractices and abuses that took place in primary schools and notorious girls’ schools in Jaffna without any action being taken.

According to a survey conducted by Transparency International Madagascar, 84% of students are victims of sexual corruption. The most common modus operandi is first to lure a student and then offer a good grade in exchange for a sexual favour. The Confederation of Teachers' Unions has denounced the existence of a protection network for guilty teachers within the Ministry of Higher Education.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials is investigating Seoul’s education superintendent for abusing his authority following the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea complaint against him. The official undermined transparency and fairness by ordering certain departments to advance the employment of five teachers who were dismissed between July and August in 2018. They had previously worked in his election camp in 2008.

The Accountability Court Hyderabad gave five years imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 30 million to four officers from the education department. They have recruited 208 candidates in violation of the procedure and direction of the department and without checking the qualification certificates from relevant boards. According to the National Accountability Bureau, they had inflicted a loss of Rs 127.48 million on the public treasury for wages paid to these employees.

The Department of Justice arrested Texas A&M University (TAMU) engineering professor who allegedly conducted research for NASA hiding his affiliation and collaboration with a Chinese university and a Chinese-owned company for several years. He willingly accepted US funding and defrauded his university disregarding rules under NASA during his contract at TAMU.

In two years, nearly 250 students in one Chinese province have been stripped of their university entrance exam results. Despite her excellent grades, a high school student in Shandong province failed twice her gaokao, the national entrance exam to a public university. Her failure was in fact due to the usurpation of her identity and positive results by the daughter of one of her high school teachers.