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Following two scandals at National Taiwan University involving two politicians, the president of the Union of Private School Educators called on the Ministry of Education to ensure that university dissertation plagiarism is prevented. Academics are unlikely to blow the whistle on misconduct by politicians studying for degrees. Instead of being compromised by favours from politicians, thesis advisers should instead be gatekeepers of academic ethics.

Instead of following the national regulations for granting honorary academic titles, the State University of Jakarta decided to pass its own rules. While politicians want academic titles to boost their public image and reputation, they are concerned about their careers rather than the university itself. “Usually, after the title-granting ceremony, funds or projects come in from the grantee’s office,” said a senior lecturer.

The principal of Zakir Husail Delhi College has been promoted to his current designation through dubious and fraudulent means. To meet the eligibility to the post of principal, he plagiarized his work, copied full papers of other authors without mentioning or giving credit. A letter of complaint signed by several academic council members has sent to University Grants Commission.

The police accused of corruption and cheating the chairperson in the Haryana State Higher Education, an autonomous body created to promote academic excellence in the state. The main allegations against him include the appointment of staff in the university against the norms, opening of new educational centres, which were not required, extending favouritism, illegal withdrawal of university funds and spending the same on family’s personal expenses by misusing his official position.

16 pilots and 65 crew members of the national airline have been suspended by the Pakistan authorities for possessing fake degrees. On 29 December, a chairman of the Senate Committee, strongly opposed the pilots and cabin crew’s dismissal and suggested that the salaries of the culprits be reduced instead of firing them. The issue of who is responsible has become politicized. It seems that many pilots and cabin crews with fake academic degrees obtained their degrees through political connections. The fake degrees issue has been in the limelight in the country since 2010, as many parliamentarians faked their academic qualifications to be eligible to contest elections when a new rule made it compulsory for candidates to possess a bachelor degree.

Tajikistan has been hit by a huge fake dissertation scandal that reaches all the way up to the highest echelons of government. Russian networking community Dissernet (in Russian) has revealed that more than 25 doctoral dissertations from Tajikistan defended between 2004 and 2015 contained significant elements of plagiarism. Included in the blacklist are high-ranking government figures such as the first deputy prime minister who is a close relative of the country’s longstanding president.

Turkish prosecutors are investigating allegations of possible cheating and favouritism in the annual university entrance exam sat by 1.7 million students on 27 March. Suspicions were raised this week after a lawyer discovered a formula for correct answers for multiple-choice maths questions on one exam.