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The National Accountability Bureau has opened an investigation against the Higher Education Commission(HEC) Chairman for corruption, irregularities, mismanagement and appointment of consultants. Dozens of consultants were hired based on the high salaries of directors, some of whom were not only retired but also fresh graduates. According to University officials, the alleged HEC chairman was bullied for trying to mend a broken system.

An audit conducted at Yonsei University In Seoul revealed 86 cases of irregularities including unfair admissions, evaluations, and recruitment issues, as well as allegations of misappropriation of university funds by professors who used the university ‘corporate cards’ to pay for nightclub entertainment and golf. Twenty-six staff and faculty members are subject to disciplinary action, and eight cases have been filed for violations of regulations including allegations of misconduct or embezzlement and violations of private school laws.

The police accused of corruption and cheating the chairperson in the Haryana State Higher Education, an autonomous body created to promote academic excellence in the state. The main allegations against him include the appointment of staff in the university against the norms, opening of new educational centres, which were not required, extending favouritism, illegal withdrawal of university funds and spending the same on family’s personal expenses by misusing his official position.

After reports of corruption in the process of recruitments to its universities, the Higher Education Department plans to hand over tasks of screening candidates and issuing appointment orders to the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA). According to an official, “one university had given a written exam in a sheet of paper that was handwritten and with nonsensical questions’’.

Taiwan’s Minister of Education has resigned over his refusal to sign off the highly controversial appointment of a new president for National Taiwan University (NTU) until key questions surrounding the appointment had been cleared up. The new president was due to take the helm of the prestigious university on 1 February. However, there were allegations of a conflict of interest in the university’s process of electing him and separate allegations of plagiarism.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan last week ordered the removal of a number of university vice-chancellors because they were appointed in violation of the merit-based system. In stern remarks on 22 April over the appointment of vice-chancellors in Punjab province, Pakistan’s Chief Justice said “The Supreme Court cannot tolerate any appointment without transparency as the state of education in the province is in complete disarray,” and that the appointments were not the most senior professors but had close links with government circles.

Corruption charges and the arrest of former vice-chancellor of Bharathiar University still fresh, another controversy erupted on Monday, this time in the form of a video. The clip that surfaced showed the head of the Tamil department receiving money from a person, allegedly for a posting in the university. The state higher education department has decided to send the video to the police department and probe its authenticity as well as the allegations.

The president-to-be of Taiwan’s top higher education institution had been due to take up his post on 1 February after his selection to the top university position by a university committee in January. However, his taking of office has been delayed after it was revealed in January that he was an independent director of the board of a private company, and that the company’s vice chairman sat on the university selection committee. He has also been subjected to plagiarism allegations relating to a paper he presented at a conference in May 2017, but the university said in late January it would not formally investigate the claims.