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Poor performance in the 2004 Primary leaving Examinations has been blamed on the many teachers who used fake academic documents and poor sanitation in numerous schools. Of the 5,655 pupils who sat for PLE last year, only 90 passed in grade one, while 3,892 failed.

Makarere University, in Uganda, one of the most prestigious universities in Africa may revoke 200 degrees awarded in the past years after an internal committee charged with investigating academic fraud, discovered that students have been enrolled without any evidence that they met admissions criteria.

The National Council for Higher Education has ordered the closure of Luweero University and Central Buganda University (CBU). The council also says Namasagali and Fairland Universities have up to December to improve their facilities or face closure. The council's deputy executive director said they had written to the Inspector General of Police to effect the closure. "Luweero University and CBU are illegal and any student who goes there does so at his or her own risk. The council does not recognise them as universities and we have requested the Police to close them down." Both Luweero and CBU have over 2,000 students studying Business Administration, Social Work and Social Administration as well as Computer Science.

In line with the second MDG of achieving universal primary education by ensuring that all girls and boys complete a full course of primary schooling, moral values and ethics need to be inducted in the education system aside practical skills. Though some people have argued that corruption is as old as mankind, it is mankind that can avert the situation through structuring curricular whose aim should be producing morally upright citizens who abhor corruption.

Two of the most prestigious high school institutions are been blame of sending home earlier the children in order to save substantial utilities and teacher's allowances, of detaining children at school in holydays and of asking parents to pay fees twice in the same term.

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 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.

According to the education minister, primary school head teachers will be required to sign performance agreements every year. Many pupils had not attained the desirable learning competency in literacy and numeracy partly because of the slackness, absenteeism and lack of commitment from the head teachers. The assessment guidelines and the tracking of the teachers' performance will help to create a more fair and verifiable system.

In the past, teachers were heroes and their profession was highly respected. But over the years, things have changed and the profession has become the last career resort for many students. The nation needs to go back to the drawing board in the training and recruitment of teachers, putting emphasis on ethics and professionalism.

A first-year law student at Makerere University, is eager to use "Not In My Country". The website, launched in May, asks students in Uganda to report corruption in higher education – such as lecturers trading higher grades for money or sex – and lets students rate classroom experiences. Confronting corruption, even at university level, is risky, therefore various safeguards are used to protect identities.