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The conviction of an executive from an unregistered university marks a significant step in Malawi's efforts to combat illegal higher education institutions. The official operating unregistered universities was fined and faces imprisonment for offering fake qualifications. While civil society organizations advocate for more arrests and consequences for employers recognizing qualifications from such institutions, the conviction underscores the importance of regulatory enforcement to maintain educational integrity. Calls for a National Qualification Authority Bill aim to strengthen regulatory frameworks, yet progress remains uncertain.

The Bureau of the Council of Europe's Steering Committee for Education is discussing the creation of a European observatory for ethical integrity and transparency in Higher Education, a landmark initiative against educational fraud. The observatory aims to tackle the growing problem of fake diplomas with objectives such as data collection, promotion of ethical practices, prevention of corruption and international cooperation. Despite bureaucratic, financial and legal challenges, this initiative offers considerable potential benefits for the quality and reputation of higher education in Europe.

The recent ETINED plenary in Paris gathered representatives from 35 European countries to discuss the significance of integrity in higher education. They emphasized the need for ethical principles, transparency, and integrity in education, alongside measures to counter education fraud. The platform shared good practices, including a recommendation on countering education fraud and a forthcoming publication on legal responses and case studies related to education fraud. Discussions covered AI's impact on education, student-centric approaches, and plans for an observatory to combat education fraud.

To ensure academic integrity and prevent plagiarism, the Paris Institute of Political Studies has banned the use of ChatGPT, the new chatbot capable of instantly writing essays. Without transparent referencing, students are forbidden to use the software for any written work or presentations, except for specific course purposes. The sanctions for use of the software may go as far as exclusion from the institution.

Education agencies across the globe are joining forces to fight the rise of commercial cheating services that target students worldwide. The newly formed Global Academic Integrity Network (GAIN) will share experiences and resources to help jurisdictions develop legislation, regulatory approaches and frameworks that penalise facilitating and advertising of cheating services. It was founded by Quality and Qualifications Ireland and Australia’s Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency and launched in Dublin last October.

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is the first South African tertiary institution to use blockchain technology as an additional security measure to protect its certificates against alteration or falsification. The Director of Central Academic Administration calls on all tertiary institutions to collectively improve the integrity of their qualifications and enable companies to verify their qualifications easily and at no cost, which will help to prevent certificate fraud and curb counterfeiting.