In 2018 an audit conducted to review the Basic Education Community Schools program authorized by the Public Accounts Committee revealed over 2000 ghost schools on paper but no teacher on record. Several years have passed and new cases have been reported. Yet criminals continue to embezzle money to bribe government officials to allow fake teachers to keep fake jobs and usurp salaries of honest teachers and deserving students.

The police arrested an education officer for allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs 50,000 from a school uniform supplier in Shamli. According to the anti-corruption unit, the supplier of school uniforms for government schools lodged a complaint after the official had asked him to pay up as part of the deal to deliver uniforms to a school.

Six officials at the Apex School of Theology orchestrated a scam to fraudulently claim $12 million in Federal student aid. The scheme involved recruiting fake students, forging fake applications for financial aid, as well as plagiarizing schoolwork and diplomas. FBI called the conspiracy a “blatant abuse of a Federally funded program” and “an insult to all taxpayers.

Since its implementation in 2012, the Right to Education admissions has been riddled with fraudulent applicants. For the current academic year, the government has asked the parents for a signed affidavit claiming responsibility for the genuineness of the documents. Despite being informed of criminal prosecution if their documents are found to be fake, parents with sound background have been shamelessly lied to receive free school admission meant for those on a low income.

According to reports from the National Examinations Board, the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) English tests have been leaked. Answers had already been posted on social networks while candidates were waiting to take the test. Police in Lilongwe arrested three students from Kabwabwa Community Day Secondary School after they were found discussing a theory paper on agriculture that had been administered during the MSCE exams on Monday. Investigations are underway to establish the source of the leak.

A study conducted by Visual Objects revealed that 52% of students anticipate widespread cheating and breaches of academic integrity while experiencing distance learning. Upholding academic standards have been replaced with an unethical pursuit of higher grades at the cost of true education and personal character. At Staples High School, for example, teachers may give the same test to students – with half of the class in person, and the other half participating via Zoom. When assessments are announced, many online students use various tools to cheat on tests. Photomath, a popular mobile app that completes math problems by scanning photos, has experienced heightened usage during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A professor emeritus at the University of Geneva discusses her main research topic: integrity sciences. During the interview, she documents the different profiles of what she calls "knowledge offenders". 

A social activist alleged that large-scale corruption was being carried out in the District Education Office and nine girls’ schools in Bazgarha, Kamarkhel are locked. Dozens of female teachers of these closed schools are still receiving salaries at home, but paying a considerable portion of their salaries as a bribe to specific frontmen of the District Education Office. According to local sources, this practice of mismanagement is continuing since 2015.