Elite universities in the United States and the United Kingdom have been investing endowment funds offshore in order to pay little or no tax, according to details revealed in the so-called Paradise Papers. According to the student run Fossil Free Pitt Coalition “We are concerned about the lack of transparency, as two-thirds of the endowment is just a mystery to us. We are suspicious about where that huge segment of the endowment is going.” An emeritus professor in accounting at the University of Essex, told the newspaper that UK universities should be more transparent about their investment decisions, since they are public institutions that receive public money, including from the European Union.

Kenya’s universities have been ordered to publish regular financial performance reports as part of sweeping regulations which take effect this year, aimed at lifting the veil of secrecy that has shrouded institutions’ financial status and effectively put millions of dollars at risk. Currently, the publication of financial performance for public universities takes as many as four years, a situation that has seen most institutions drift into financial problems. In addition, none of the private universities in the country has ever made public their financials despite their handling millions of dollars in student funds annually.

Universities in the United States should close down their Confucius Institutes – teaching and research centres funded directly by the Chinese government – says a report by the National Association of Scholars or NAS. The wide-ranging report includes additional insights on the institutes’ often-secretive operations gleaned from the contracts signed with a dozen US universities, obtained through freedom of information law requests. The report, Outsourced to China: Confucius Institutes and soft power in American higher education, says unless contracts between US universities and the Hanban can be renegotiated to include more transparency, financial and hiring autonomy for US host universities, academic freedom guarantees and other safeguards, the institutes should be shut down.

Integrity is not just a cornerstone of quality and equity in education; it is the foundation of a healthy, open society. School is typically the first place where children are exposed to diverse cultures and interact with public institutions. Addressing highly visible and criminal misconduct in education is a first step in establishing this trust. Merit-based, high-quality education is essential for Ukraine’s economic growth and social progress. Trust, openness, and transparency are the building blocks of a well-functioning education system and society. With these, Ukraine can achieve better outcomes from its education system, ensuring that human and financial resources are well used, that students have equal opportunities to learn, and that educational qualifications faithfully reflect students’ achievements.

Only a select number of school-level accountability initiatives in low- and middle-income countries have reduced corruption; improved managerial, parental, and teacher effort; and led to more efficient targeting of reforms and resources. These limited successes, too, appear to be context-specific and difficult to replicate. It is not enough to put information in the public domain and hope that it enhances accountability, especially since marginalized parents and communities have the least amount of time, resources, or influence to take up the reins of structural change. Information interventions need to consider carefully the audience, design, and presumed causal pathway to improved service delivery.

The Indian government is planning to digitise academic records as part of a drive against fake degrees and institutions at a time when prominent public figures are being challenged to prove that they are entitled to the degrees and qualifications they claim to have. The National Academic Depository, which will start functioning this year, will include authenticated academic records from 2016 onwards with the government ensuring that all institutions, including school boards, issue digitised certificates with digital signatures from this academic year.

A scandal over former high-level government officials being given jobs at universities after lobbying on their behalf by the education ministry has cause a public furore in Japan over recent weeks. The administrative vice-minister of education has already been forced to resign and seven other officials from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology face disciplinary action. A government investigation has been launched to investigate dozens of officials in the ministry, which is expected to report back at the end of this month.

According to a confidential report, Kenya’s universities are facing serious management challenges resulting in admission flaws, inadequate staffing, and low standards of examination administration, supervision and research. The report also shows that some institutions cut corners to increase admissions in order to seal budgetary gaps, allow students to graduate within months, or admit students to unaccredited programmes from which they are then allowed to graduate. After returning their reports with factual corrections done, the institutions in question will have 30 days to issue corrective roadmap.