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The Department of Higher Education has warned students to be wary of "registered" private colleges which offer certificates, diplomas and degrees but do not have its stamp of approval. A department spokesman expressed concern about the current trend whereby institutions secured registration for one or two programmes, and then used this status as a cover to offer other unregistered courses.

An associate dean of academic services spends a lot of time studying, lamenting and worrying about cheating in universities, but a Montreal-based online service that propels the activity to a new level made even her wince. The website unemployedprofessors.com has teachers writing papers for students. "So you can play while we make your papers go away" is its tag line.

Controversy over plagiarism in the PhD thesis of the director of Thailand's National Innovation Agency, or NIA, has highlighted concerns over academic integrity and a widespread culture of plagiarism. Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University revoked the PhD – for the first time in the institution's history.

New laws to clamp down on academic cheating at China's universities may be implemented as the rampant problems of plagiarism, falsification, lying about credentials and research papers, and other misconduct continue unabated in higher education. However, some experts have said that government-led anti-corruption campaigns are common at times of public dissatisfaction against the authorities, so as to appease the public.

Today there are 39 higher education institutions and 250,000 students in Slovakia, which has a population of 5.4 million. In 2008 only two higher education institutions were using plagiarism detection systems. The situation was serious and required a solution. The Ministry of Education decided to launch a systematic fight against plagiarism. A goal was set: by 2010 it would be obligatory for all Slovak institutions to use the national central repository for theses and dissertations (NCRTD) and the national plagiarism detection system (NPDS).

Turkey has suspended its recognition of Bulgarian university diplomas. The Turkish University Education Council made this decision on the grounds of high levels of academic forgery, fraud and exam cheating in Bulgaria. Bulgaria's Education Minister has admonished the Bulgarian media for provoking an international scandal, claiming that the problematic diplomas were forged by Turkish citizens.

A Chinese Professor has been fired by his university and disqualified from China's Recruitment Program of Global Experts for copying his resume and academic articles from three other academics with the same name. The 39 year-old professor with the Beijing University of Chemical Technology has admitted falsifying his educational background, work experience and published articles by copying the details from overseas professors.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, in conjunction with the National Universities Commission, NUC, is set to beam its searchlight on corrupt practices in the Nigerian universities over a chain of petitions received by the anti-graft commission. Abuses highlighted include admission processes, conduct of examinations, appointments and promotion of staff, and manipulation and falsification of academic records such as transcripts.

The Vietnamese government has continued a crackdown on unauthorized foreign-linked institutions operating in the country by blacklisting another seven colleges. The move follows the closure and fining of a number of foreign-affiliated institutions in the past six months.

Falsification of report cards to obtain admission into private schools in Kigali is listed as one of the major challenges hampering education quality. Speaking during an education workshop organised by Kigali City Council, an education activist from Power in Education, a local civil society organisation, revealed that a recent survey indicated that over 100 students in various city schools used forged report cards to obtain admission.