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The Libyan authorities announced on Thursday that they were opening investigations following an outcry over revelations of generous scholarships to study in Turkey for relatives of senior government officials. The beneficiaries of the scholarships had surprising profiles: a 74-year-old woman receiving a grant of more than 2,700 dollars a month to study computer science in Turkey and two brothers aged 57 and 70 accompanied by 10 and 15 members of their families at public expense. The lists include "1,895 scholarship holders" to whom a total of more than 14 million euros is paid each quarter.

A collective of Algerian academics draw attention to the problems eroding Algeria’s universities: violence, favouritism, deference, and recruitments based on criteria of loyalty and not on competence. According to one of the authors, “the lack of merit, the intrusion of politics in science, and the pre-eminence of administration over the educational corruption, censorship have taken precedence in the university environment”.

To identify students accurately and easily detect any potential impersonator, an expert from Cairo’s National Research Centre called on African universities to introduce biometric systems based on fingerprints and to install scanning systems at entrance gates, examination halls and lecture rooms. An Egyptian soccer player has been recently impersonated during the mid-year exam at a private higher education institution in Shabraman.

The Financial Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation at the Ministry of Education regarding the education provided to Syrian refugee students funded by the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union, and Germany. The list of children enrolled for evening classes in the 346 State schools includes a far greater number of students than those who actually attend them. The amount missing is calculated by multiplying the number of 15,000 ghost students to the $600 that donors allocate each year for every registered student. $9 million disappears each year since 2014.

Protesting students at the public Abdelmalek Essaâdi University have called for an investigation into allegations against a professor of mathematics accused of promising female students high marks in exchange for sexual relations, in a case that has rocked the institution and reignited concerns about sexual harassment in Moroccan universities. The sexual harassment allegations came to light after a student created a Facebook page on which she published private conversations and photos. By setting up the Facebook page, the student was acting in compliance with a call by another Arabic Facebook page called Denounce your Harasser, which aims to maximise individual and collective efforts to fight sexual harassment.

Egyptian authorities recently busted what they said was the biggest illegal organ trafficking ring in the country’s history. The suspects include medical professors at the universities of Cairo and Ain Shams, Egypt’s two main public academic institutions, the Health Ministry said. Investigations by Egypt’s Administrative Control Authority and the Health Ministry focused on private hospitals and health centres. Authorities found “millions of dollars and gold bullion”, at the 10 centres.

Fascinated by easy money, the members of the family who have ruled over Syria since 1970 also love collecting university qualifications obtained through dishonest and violent means. The various degrees held by the members of the family, including in medicine, law, engineering and pharmaceuticals, were not won thanks to their hard work, but rather thanks to money and the abuse of power.

Public universities in Egypt are institutions with multi-layered corruption – from sexual harassment to nepotism. The Daily News Egypt was intrigued by a recent corruption case in Ain Shams University and decided to look into the different forms of corruption directed at students at public universities. Students recount their experiences with corruption and propose solutions.