Questions about using artificial intelligence go further than cheating on exams or generating text for scientific articles. They concern academic values the integrity of academic work, but also the exploration of the changing relationship between humans and machines. A recent statement by the European University Association, ChatGPT raises issues for universities in terms of updating policies to accommodate such tools while preserving recognition of course work and authentic assessment.

The Justice Department has unsealed conspiracy and wire fraud charges against 25 people in the $114 million sale of 7,600 fake diplomas from three now-defunct South Florida nursing schools. According to an FBI agent, the investigation into the nursing certificates began in 2019. The certificates allowed untrained individuals to sit for national nursing board exams and at least 2,800 of them passed.

Over 5,000 students had their results withdrawn by Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) after massive leaks. A headmaster and a teacher at Thokozani school had been arrested after they gained access to the examination papers and sold them to Zvishavane residents. However, according to a legislator, ZIMSEC used the school as a scapegoat for the examination board’s investigations to be concluded hastily.

According to the head of the Observatory for Higher Education and Scientific Research, there has been an increase in exam cheating by students using mobile phones, lesson notes, or documents prepared for cheating, along with writing on the tables or even on the walls of the exam halls. Some observers instead of writing reports about cheating in exams are rather facilitating it. This can be attributed to a lack of resources and motivation that affects quality teaching along with a culture in which cheating has become normalized.

Under the new measures approved on academic integrity for all its candidates, all Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members standing for election will have to list their degrees and sign an academic ethics statement declaring that they did not engage in plagiarism, falsification or ghostwriting when writing their theses. This follows the revoke of various doctoral degrees of DPP members for plagiarism allegations.

Many job seekers try to secure a place by cheating in exams, including buying exam papers or paying someone else to take the test on their behalf. Police stopped a bus in Udaipur that was on its way to an examination centre which was carrying teachers and candidates. Four government schoolteachers were found solving questions for at least 20 candidates. 48 people have been arrested and the examination process cancelled. Since 2018, at least 12 recruitment drives have been cancelled in the state after the test was leaked.

Of the one million students who sat for the national school-leaving exams, only 3.3% managed to achieve the 50% pass mark. The results revealed the multiple challenges that the education sector has long faced: increasing politicisation of the system that undermines meritocracy, corrupt and unethical practices to move students to the next level without the necessary preparation. Schools, teachers and headmasters, regional authorities and politicians have been involved in malpractice.

A recently published survey study of PhD students in Denmark reveals that an ethically questionable culture for assigning authorships to research papers is widespread within the medical and natural sciences across Europe. 49% of the PhD students in medical sciences had granted guest authorship to a person in power while 42% were in the natural and technical sciences.

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) sanctioned 13 Secondary Schools in Gombe State over cases of examination malpractice. From 2018 to 2020, seven public secondary schools were found to be involved in exam malpractice. In 2022, the Ministry received a fresh set of six schools that committed the same offence, and they were also de-recognised with a penalty of N500,000 per school payable to WAEC. According to WAEC director, the threat of examination malpractice had a negative impact on students' performance in the Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations result: with an overall average of 55.6% in 2022 compared to 79.5 per cent in 2021.

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