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.

In South Africa, an incident at a school in Soweto revived the debate over false teacher qualifications. This week, a former primary school teacher stabbed a director who had suspended him. The teacher was dismissed after the school discovered, following a complaint from parents, that he had lied about his qualifications and had no diploma. According to the South African Council of Educators, dozens or even hundreds of teachers lie about their qualifications.

When the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) released the exam timetables on Monday, it also addressed a troubling question: how to stem the rampant examination malpractices. In a statement, Uneb urged all candidates to report directly to the board any invigilator, teacher or head teacher and other candidates involved in examination malpractice. The Uneb executive secretary stated that “The board reserves the right to declare publicly names of centres, candidates or anyone else who will have involved themselves in examination malpractice”.

The government plans to bring in a law to stop rampant plagiarism in academia, with punishment ranging from a warning to deregistration in the case of students and dismissal from service for teachers. Higher education regulator University Grants Commission (UGC) is finalising a draft law — the first of its kind — that is likely to be sent to the human resource development ministry for further action by June-end. Official sources said the government intends to seek parliamentary approval for the law this year itself.

In Algeria the gendarmerie carried out ‘tens of arrests’ for fraud by officials, teachers and heads of some exam centres. Papers had been leaked via social networks, through more than 150 Facebook accounts, which had enabled the police to identify and arrest perpetrators. Meanwhile, 53 people have been arrested in a number of towns in Morocco for their alleged involvement in baccalauréat fraud. The arrests concerned 22 administrators of social network chat pages and sites for facilitating exam paper leaks and answers in return for money

The issue of education continues to be at the centre of public discourse in Liberia, with frequent outcries about the system. While dozens of scholarly papers have been published by veteran scholars about how to reform education in the country, ambiguity remains as to who is at the origin of the poor level of quality within a sector plagued with issues such as sex for grades, bribery, deception, outdated curricula and a lack of competent instructors.

Teachers have complained about "cheating watches" being sold online to give students an unfair advantage in exams. These digital watches include an "emergency button" to quickly switch from hidden text to a clock face. The watches hold data or written information which can be read in exams. Watches are advertised on Amazon with the claim that they are "specifically designed for cheating on exams". But a deputy head from Bath has warned about the scale of this "hidden market" and says it could tempt stressed students into cheating.