The government in Bangladesh is setting up more private universities even though the number of students and teachers at such higher education institutions has been dropping for the last four years. According to the University Grants Commission, private universities are failing to provide quality education, and, in some cases, they were set up without adequate planning as approval was allegedly obtained using political connections. Under the Private Universities Act, a university must own a permanent campus within seven years of its launch. 77 universities are over seven years old but only 26 have permanent campuses.

Two vice-chancellors and a former Rwandan prime minister were accused of nepotism and mismanagement of university finances. Three private universities were shut down by the Ministry of Education from 1 July 2020 after failing to meet education quality standards and to pay staff, despite strict rules for students who are required to pay fees before being admitted. The Higher Education Council will continue to evaluate institutions regularly and take action against universities with similar cases before schools reopen in September.

The quality of university education in Nigeria declines because politicians refuse to pay adequate attention to education. According to the president of the Academic Staff Union, most universities are “caricatures”, any person can teach and to be academic you only need some temperament. No serious academic work can be done and universities “produce ill-equipped graduates and they go to one political heavyweight, who gives them a letter and they are employed as teachers in the universities”.

According to Transparency International, 66 per cent of the money Nigerian governments allocate to education is stolen by corrupt officials. Resource misallocation, corrupt procurement, exchange of sex for grades, examination malpractices, fake qualifications, teacher absenteeism, and corrupt recruitment practices are just some examples of the challenges the education systems is facing. This affects the quality of education, inclusion and learning outcomes with devastating consequences for national economic growth.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan last week ordered the removal of a number of university vice-chancellors because they were appointed in violation of the merit-based system. In stern remarks on 22 April over the appointment of vice-chancellors in Punjab province, Pakistan’s Chief Justice said “The Supreme Court cannot tolerate any appointment without transparency as the state of education in the province is in complete disarray,” and that the appointments were not the most senior professors but had close links with government circles.

The Association of African Universities (AAU) has identified corruption and threats to officials of accreditation bodies as some of the issues affecting the quality of some higher education institutions across the continent. “Because of corruption, some universities that are owned by ‘the rich and famous’ as well as politicians just get opened without the minimum requirements. Some accreditation bodies also face threats if they refuse to open unbefitting institutions,”. The AAU is preparing to implement the regional recognition of higher education qualifications across Africa .