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According to the Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the role of higher education students in the effective implementation of anti-corruption laws is crucial. During a symposium organized by the National Commission for Civic Education, he has called students to get involved in the fight against corruption and to promote good governance, rule of law, accountability and transparency in the country.

The FBI arrested the former education secretary along with six people engaged in a public corruption campaign from which they profited at the expense of the Puerto Rico citizens and students. The alleged fraud involved $15.5 million in federal money spent between 2017 and 2019. The education secretary is accused of steering contracts toward her friends without going through regular procedures.

The university students in Zimbabwe are tired by “fraudulent stances’’ taken by the government and the empty promises of receiving their US$100 allowances for living. According to the secretary general of the Zimbabwe National Students Union, the former minister of higher and tertiary education, and his deputy are subjects of a forensic investigation into the possible looting of funds meant for tertiary education students.

According to a report published by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the International Quality Group, corruption in higher education vary between countries but it highlights unethical, inappropriate, and illegal practices. Some examples include university leaders and professors with fake or undeserved doctoral degrees impacting on the governance of some Russian universities, ‘ghost advising’ or absenteeism by senior academics, delegating their responsibilities for teaching or supervision to junior colleagues or research students, is widespread in Kosovo, or students and teachers sexually harassing, threatening or harming academic teaching staff in Uganda.

There have been issues of cronyism, nepotism, and corruption in the Ministry of Education, subject to performance audits focused on adherence to the Government’s procurement guidelines and contracts management. According to the opposition leader, the allegations are related to the misuse of public funds and to the “politically connected” persons who have been employed by the education ministry as advisers, “but are not doing any work”.

The 7,500 academies in England educate nearly 4 million pupils. Thousands of pupils are being failed by a system that fails to give academy trusts proper oversight. The public accounts committee reported that governance of academy trusts must be strengthened and that the Department for Education’s oversight must be more rigorous. MPs have called for new sanctions to deter and punish malpractice after hearing that the former head of Durand Academy in south London was paid an £850,000 severance package.

Corruption is part of the daily life of Tanzanians. Teachers accept bribes for letting their students pass their exams and even for enrolling children in school. Moreover, they pay bribes to get a promotion or to be transferred to a more comfortable place. The “United for Our Rights” project implemented by the European Union and two Tanzanian non-governmental organizations aims to empower citizens to better understand their rights and how to address corruptions and governance issues.

Six senior government officials in the Ministry of Education have been relieved of their duties in relation to massive corruption, abuse of office, fictitious procurements and embezzlement of public resources spanning more than 20 years. The President has also directed that the Contracts Committee of the same ministry be "disbanded with immediate effect" in relation to the "mishandling of the process for procuring furniture for selected primary schools in Uganda under the Ministry of Education and Sports".

Tales of corruption in Nigeria are many in number. One example is the case of the clerk at the state examinations board who was called to account for the disappearance of $100,000 in exam fees. An analyst of the country says: "There's this perception among officials in Nigeria that national government is there to divide up the booty of oil wealth." That political culture then filters through to layers below, to the point where even local police or school teachers or receptionists at public hospitals may consider it their right to demand bribes. "It's about people monetizing their position in society so that even people with the lowest amount of authority will use that to extract a small amount."

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials have started collecting evidence pertaining to alleged corruption and financial mismanagement of at least Rs 4 billion in the Prime Minister’s Education Reform Programme. The former prime minister had given at least Rs 4 billion to improve the conditions of 423 federal public educational institutions that come under the purview of the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) through the Prime Minister’s Education Reform Programme. Corruption and financial mismanagement has allegedly been done in funds allocated for paint jobs, furniture procurement, and construction and renovation projects.