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The conviction of an executive from an unregistered university marks a significant step in Malawi's efforts to combat illegal higher education institutions. The official operating unregistered universities was fined and faces imprisonment for offering fake qualifications. While civil society organizations advocate for more arrests and consequences for employers recognizing qualifications from such institutions, the conviction underscores the importance of regulatory enforcement to maintain educational integrity. Calls for a National Qualification Authority Bill aim to strengthen regulatory frameworks, yet progress remains uncertain.

The Bureau of the Council of Europe's Steering Committee for Education is discussing the creation of a European observatory for ethical integrity and transparency in Higher Education, a landmark initiative against educational fraud. The observatory aims to tackle the growing problem of fake diplomas with objectives such as data collection, promotion of ethical practices, prevention of corruption and international cooperation. Despite bureaucratic, financial and legal challenges, this initiative offers considerable potential benefits for the quality and reputation of higher education in Europe.

The new book “Corrupted: A study of chronic dysfunction in South African universities” is an account of chronic corruption rooted in a political economy framework combined with a lack of governance and management capacity and academic integrity. These universities are all located in resource-poor areas where the university is the main source of funding and an opportunity for corruption, ranging from contracts (such as building projects) to services (such as transport), to student accommodation and the sale of fake certificates.

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is the first South African tertiary institution to use blockchain technology as an additional security measure to protect its certificates against alteration or falsification. The Director of Central Academic Administration calls on all tertiary institutions to collectively improve the integrity of their qualifications and enable companies to verify their qualifications easily and at no cost, which will help to prevent certificate fraud and curb counterfeiting.

A recent study in Kenya found that 68% of respondents had engaged in some form of misconduct, while 36% admitted that they had engaged in the more serious breaches of fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism. To promote ethical research practices, transparency, equity, accountability and rigour across the continent, the African Research Integrity Network (ARIN) has been launched. It will be registered in different countries where nodes will be established.

Following an increase in breaches of academic integrity during the remote fall term, two teaching assistants (TAs) are asking Queen’s University to take action against academic misconduct. In grading final assignments using Turnitin, they found that four of her five plagiarism cases had copy rates of 50 and 60 per cent. When reporting the cases of plagiarism, the administration claimed the process was ‘’intense’ while the professor of the course suggested marking the assignment with a 20 per cent grade deduction because they “didn’t want to make this misconduct a big deal.”

The Education Cabinet Secretary has vowed to ensure that people using fake university degree papers are unearthed. Addressing principals at All Saints Cathedral Anglican in Nairobi, the education CS lashed out at those who want to assume leadership roles by irregularly acquiring academic qualifications, saying the ministry will rein in on academic miscreants in an effort to promote integrity. He urged the principals to be at the forefront in instilling virtues and challenged them to take responsibility for failures in their institutions.