The Parliament has decided that schools cannot charge any money from students benefiting from the Universal Secondary Education scheme. The committee also wanted answers on examination malpractices, leakages and cancelled 'O' level results. It decided that when a candidate is deemed to have cheated in one paper, the candidate loses the whole examination.

Results from last year's Uganda Certificate of Education exams show that 2,742 students have not obtained their exam due to cheating, and seven schools lost examination center status. Even in the employment sector many executives' qualifications have been found wanting least of all in professions as lofty as law. A judge had to resign for forging academic papers in the 1990s.

The federal polytechnic has expelled 162 students for examination malpractice, cultism and poor academic performance, in the 2004-2005 session. The students were expelled for their involvement in examination misconduct during examinations.

One-third of students admit to cheating at university by copying ideas from books or the internet according to a survey. Based on 1,022 undergraduates at 119 universities and colleges, the study found that one in six students admitted they copied work from friends while 10% said they looked for essays online. Male students were more likely to copy work from their friends (21%) than female students (14%), the study revealed.

Plagiarism could threaten the value of a degree from Oxford University as students increasingly copy large slabs of work from the internet and submit it as their own, the university warns. Many of the plagiarism cases that were referred to the proctor's office involved international students whose first language was not English.

An increasing number of college students in China are hiring surrogates to take English-language examinations for them. The business of hiring a "gunman" is growing at an unprecedented rate on campuses. In order to graduate from a bachelor's program, all students are required to pass English proficiency exams know as the College English Test Level 4. Fees for a pass in the CET-4 are around US$120. Many of the ads are placed by agencies which also propose tests such as TOEFL and IELTS, for which agencies charge as much as $1,500 for a pass.

The government urges that exam papers should be scanned by specialist computer software as part of a crackdown on internet plagiarism by A-level and GSCE pupils in their compulsory coursework. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority warns that exam boards appear to be failing to spot cheating, even though the number of cases of fraud is increasing. Last year 3,600 teenagers were caught breaching the rules, a 9 % rise on the previous year.

Lawmakers in Ondo State have approved a jail term of between three and four years or a fine for principals who engage in examination malpractices in public schools. Any candidate who leaves an examination hall with intent to cheat or secure any unfair advantage for himself risk to pay a fine and/or three years imprisonment.

The Mpumalanga education department has begun disciplinary hearings for 61 teachers accused of being involved in last year's matric exam cheating. Investigations revealed that candidates were assisted, possibly by teachers, in one or more subjects. Irregular practices took place at 10 of the province's Mpumalanga's 587 examination centres.