Search Page

The Education Minister has threatened to use Article 44 of the interim constitution in tackling many ugly problems in the country's higher-education sector. Several private and state universities have operated programmes recently without proper permission. The latest scandal surrounds Bangkok Thonburi University (BTU). Though permitted to run a master's degree programme in educational management for 500 graduate students each year, the university has recruited 2,500 students to its programmes annually.

THE HRD Ministry is set to launch a programme next month that would probably be the world’s largest student tracking system, sources said. Shala Asmita (All School Monitoring, Individual Tracing Analysis) Yojana (SAY) aims to track the educational journey of close to 25 crore school students from Class I to Class XII across 15 lakh schools in the country. This online database will carry information about student attendance and enrolment, mid-day meal service, learning outcomes and infrastructural facilities, among other things, on one platform for both private and government schools.

With each teacher taking an average of 6.6 sick days per year, the non-replacement of absent teachers is a source of tension with parents. In the public sector, substitute teachers cover 97% of long-term absences at the secondary level. This rate falls to 38% for shorter absences. However, when it comes to replacing teachers, be it for longer or shorter periods, the private education system is more efficient than the public sector.

A NSW government minister has launched a blistering attack on the federal government's administration of the scandal-ridden private vocational education sector. The sector has been plagued by allegations of dodgy private providers recruiting tens of thousands of students through free laptops and targeting illiterate, disabled students to sign them up to tens of thousands of dollars worth of taxpayer-funded student debt through the federal government's HECS-style VET-FEE help program.

Independent Schools Association of Malawi (Isama) officials have bemoaned high levels of corruption in the ministry of Education inspection department. The President of Isama said during the launch of a quiz competition organised by the association that Education ministry officials were demanding money from private school owners who did not have licence to operate their institutions in the country.

Seoul's education authority is conducting an intensive crackdown on corrupt practices in the hiring of teachers at private elementary, middle and high schools. Officials at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) said Monday that they are collecting tips amid persistent rumors of bribery during the hiring process. In this process, it is said that close ties with school foundation officials, or even bribes, often become the decisive factor in landing a job.

One of the biggest Chinese illegal immigrant networks ever discovered in France was centred on a private business school based in the XVth arrondissement. This network made it possible to channel between 500 and 1000 Chinese immigrants into France annually, mostly young men between the ages of 20 and 25. Once in France, fake certificates attesting to their student status, report cards and diplomas allowed them to establish themselves permanently, without ever having to set foot in a classroom.

Having barely recovered from the protests over history curriculum in July, the Ministry of Education finds itself under heat again. This time, over failing to prevent the undue influence of high-ranking officials who serve in positions at private universities right after their retirement. Twenty-one officials who retired from the MOE allegedly assumed positions at private colleges in the past 20 years. Some are said to be receiving lucrative sums in addition to their retirement pensions, while others are said to be well past retirement age.

The private college in Athlone, Cape Town, where 46 candidates cheated during the 2014 matric exams, has fired its principal. "Thus far, the school has dismissed the principal who was head of the examinations, and has accepted the resignation of two teachers who admitted to being involved", Stonefountain College Director said.