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The Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) and the Drug Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA) recently united to combat corruption and drug abuse in educational institutions. They signed a pact titled "Eliminate Corruption and Illicit Drugs in Schools and Higher Learning Institutions" in Dodoma. The Memorandum focuses on exchanging information to prevent these vices and aims to discourage youth involvement in corruption and drug abuse. The PCCB has established 7,000 anti-corruption clubs across schools and higher learning institutions in the country.

According to a survey conducted by Education Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA), most universities in East Africa struggled to uphold the integrity of examinations that were administered online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lead investigator at ESSA reports that students used materials prohibited during the examinations or breached university examination policies. Uganda and Kenya had the highest number of universities that struggled, at 31% and 27%, respectively.

The Chalinze Modern Islamic Pre and Primary School examination centre has been suspended by the Government for examination malpractice. Five students had their examination numbers altered with no clear explanation from the invigilators. The minister demanded that the owner of the school sack all teachers involved in the cheating scandal, or risk permanent deregistration of the establishment. The National Examination Council of Tanzania corrected the candidates’ examination numbers and the results affected by this malpractice.

An investigation is being conducted by The Teachers' Service Commission (TSC) after complaints that teachers' committees at the district level had promoted teachers that did not meet the criteria under the influence of bribes. A government official called on the TSC to establish a digital system for keeping teachers' information and offer a Customer Service Center for teachers whenever they encounter challenges in implementing their duties.

Ten out of 15 students in Tanzania admitted they had plagiarized on a regular basis without being noticed by their supervisor. They used fraudulent ways to graduate because professors either did not have the time to critically look at the students work or may notice it was plagiarized but took it as an opportunity to get bribes. According to a lecturer at Tumaini University Makumira, some of his colleagues assign or approve projects that already exist in the institution’s libraries.

Corruption is part of the daily life of Tanzanians. Teachers accept bribes for letting their students pass their exams and even for enrolling children in school. Moreover, they pay bribes to get a promotion or to be transferred to a more comfortable place. The “United for Our Rights” project implemented by the European Union and two Tanzanian non-governmental organizations aims to empower citizens to better understand their rights and how to address corruptions and governance issues.

Over 500 candidates had to re-sit for their Primary School Leaving Examinations after the National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA) discovered that some schools had leaked the examinations. According to the NECTA executive secretary, the leaked examinations were distributed through WhatsApp groups and primary schools. This was done in a well-orchestrated collaboration involving owners of the schools, supervisors, and authorities responsible for storing the exam papers at Nyanduga Primary School, Rorya.

Tanzania’s flagship University of Dar es Salaam is under investigation by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee for the mismanagement of university funds. An audit report for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 fiscal years presented to the parliamentary committee earlier this month shows that approximately US$0.5 million was lost on unretired imprest from workers and US$0.2 million on salaries to ghost workers at the university. The committee chairperson suggested that poor financial management at the university was behind the losses.

The government has uncovered a total of 65,198 ghost students in primary and secondary schools across the country, thus saving 931.3m ‒ which would have been allocated for the phantom students for 2016/2017 fiscal year. The Minister of State, President's Office, Regional Administration and Local Government said that out of 65,198 non-existing students, 52,783 have been framed in primary schools and 12,415 in secondary schools.

Following the suspension of student loans and the imposition of a week-long ultimatum, 15 universities in Tanzania have responded to a ministerial directive to pay back loans issued to them for thousands of so-called ‘ghost’ students. The directive was issued after a recent verification exercise revealed that about 2,192 students receiving loans at 31 universities may not even exist. The universities were given seven days to recover and return the money, estimated to be over TZS3.8 billion (US$1.7 million).