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A senior African academic has lost his job for the second time after an Australian university that appointed him in January belatedly discovered he had been forced to quit his South African post the previous November following charges of serial plagiarism.

In his years of teaching, chemistry senior lecturer said he has witnessed numerous forms of misconduct, discovering students listening to lectures, studying note cards and accessing course material on bathroom breaks during exams.

Turkish prosecutors are investigating allegations of possible cheating and favouritism in the annual university entrance exam sat by 1.7 million students on 27 March. Suspicions were raised this week after a lawyer discovered a formula for correct answers for multiple-choice maths questions on one exam.

Before assigning term papers for literature composition class at Gavilan College in Gilroy, Steve Schessler takes time to discuss something that has tormented teachers from the beginning of time – or at least the beginning of homework assignments. The subject he broaches is plagiarism, and a show of hands reveals that his students are not exactly clear on the concept.

According to teacher estimates, 20% of assignments are copied and pasted from other sources. Anti-plagiarism charters should be systematically signed by both universities and students, but nothing can beat the eagle eye of the lecturer.

A survey of more than 80 universities has revealed that academic misconduct is soaring at institutions across the country. More than 17,000 incidents of cheating were recorded by universities in the 2009-10 academic year – up at least 50% in four years.

A cheating scandal discovered among students vying for entrance to some of Japan's top universities has rocked the nation and set off a national soul search over young people and how dishonesty should be dealt with. The cheaters used a web bulletin board to ask questions while university entrance tests were underway.

Denmark has been rocked by a science fraud case involving a high-profile professor of medicine specialising in brain research. The case has also embroiled the rector of Copenhagen University, the previous minister of science and a number of co-authors, and has undermined the public view of science.

An official at the Ministry of Education was yesterday charged with Sh9 million fraud. It is alleged that the official in question acquired over Sh2.2 million fraudulently in April 2009 and gave a false impress of over Sh7 million in May of the same year.

Nowadays corruption is not only the focus of the print and electronic media. Most parents and teachers would agree that the public education can play a role in correcting this situation. Students must be made aware of the application of the values and rules.