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The central figure in the scam in which wealthy parents paid huge sums to cheat on standardised tests has been sentenced to three and a half years in Federal prison. The mastermind of the sprawling college admissions scam known as Operation Varsity Blues pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, money laundering, and conspiracy

The report by Corruption Watch titled “Sound the Alarm” reveals shocking forms of corruption in the education sector: widespread misappropriation of resources, acts of bribery, sextortion, abuse of authority, as well as employment irregularities. Between 2012 and 2021, from the primary to the tertiary level, over 3 600 complaints from pupils, students, parents, and guardians were registered, representing 10% of the total number of reports received.

The new national agency for the evaluation and accreditation of Higher Education institutions and research centres in Tunisia aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the country’s universities and develop a research system of international quality. However, the Union of Tunisian University teachers criticised the establishment of the agency and called on the Ministry to be transparent and explain how the agency will be funded, at what cost to taxpayers, and what accountability mechanism will be used to stop the wastage of public money and nepotism.

A forger spotted in 2019 by the Ministry of Higher Education has been charged with forgery, counterfeiting and sale of official documents, fraud and money laundering. Since 2015, he had been selling fake diplomas by the thousands at €200 each. With the complicity of a taxi-ambulance driver who photographed patients' documents, he bought pre-paid cards under these false identities, which were then paid for by electronic transfers by the purchasers of the false diplomas via their own pre-paid cards.

A former Yale School of Medicine finance director and administrator pleaded guilty to wire fraud and false tax returns over a nine year period. She ran an illegal business that involved the bulk purchase and resale of computers and electronic devices for a total of $40 million in losses for the university. Since the incident, the university has worked to identify and correct gaps in its internal financial controls.

To avoid leakage of funds, the University of Nairobi has introduced a comprehensive lecturers’ management system that will ensure that only active students will sit for examinations and have their marks recorded. More than 30,000 inactive students who had overstayed the period required to complete a programme degree have been deregistered.

The Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) protested the dismissal of Maasai Mara University chief finance officer, who was among the staff who blew the whistle on the misappropriation of KES190 million (US$1.8 million). KUSU also called for the dissolution of the entire Maasai Mara University Council by the Ministry of Education and the removal of the acting vice-chancellor for covering up the case.

Two former accountants at the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology received 7.5 years in prison after they were found guilty of embezzling Ksh2.5 million. They faced ten counts for fraudulent acquisition of public property, abuse of office, conspiracy to defraud and stealing by a person employed by the public service. Another Education official was sentenced to 2.5 years after stealing Ksh1.5 million of public funds.