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The education ministry has failed to take action against teachers and other education officers identified as guilty of misconduct by various investigations and commissions over the years. Affairs between schoolgirls and teachers, and schools misusing equipment given to them to improve the quality of education are among the countless problems that had emerged from investigations.

Ad hoc education fees have increased the last years. Many blame inadequate government input. However, even if ad hoc fees are levied, where does the cash end up? In Central China's Hunan Province, it is reported that an annually charged fee of 20 yuan (US$2.20) has been levied on every pupil for six years. The bureau also collected millions more from students for a sports facility fund but the sports centre was never built.

The governor of the northern province of Nampula has ordered an enquiry of financial mismanagement at the city's main secondary school. The governor ordered that the provincial finance department and the education inspectorate produce a report within a week on the use of about 100 million meticais (about 5,000 US dollars) that is allocated monthly for the maintenance of the school. The school is suffering from broken windows and a shortage of furniture in some classrooms, just four years after it had undergone thorough rehabilitation.

The Secondary School Teachers Union of Zambia (SESTUZ) has blamed parents for rampant examination malpractices. Parents are actually in the fore-front organising and buying leaked examination papers for their children. According to SESTUZ the government needed to build more schools because the population of Zambia had increased drastically while the number of schools remained static.

Four days of rioting by secondary school students in Libreville last week highlighted a growing frustration with education cutbacks. Corruption and mismanagement of existing resources have contributed to declining standards in public services. The European Union and the Islamic Development Bank had allocated funds for the upkeep of the free school bus service. A newspaper accused the government of reallocating this cash to other areas such as election campaigning.

Contractors hired to build schools in Mbale district have accused primary school management committees of demanding bribes before releasing funds under the school facilitation grant programme.