A recent report by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has unearthed the rot in many of Nigeria’s higher institutions, highlighting an intricate collusion among staff, students and other stakeholders. In the report titled, ‘Stealing the future: How federal universities in Nigeria have been stripped apart by corruption’, SERAP claimed that many allegations of corruption in federal universities – such as unfair allocation of grades; contract inflation; truncation of staff’s salary on the payroll; employment of unqualified staff; examination malpractice; sexual harassment; and issuance of results for expelled student to graduate have not been thoroughly investigated.

The Association of African Universities (AAU) has identified corruption and threats to officials of accreditation bodies as some of the issues affecting the quality of some higher education institutions across the continent. “Because of corruption, some universities that are owned by ‘the rich and famous’ as well as politicians just get opened without the minimum requirements. Some accreditation bodies also face threats if they refuse to open unbefitting institutions,”. The AAU is preparing to implement the regional recognition of higher education qualifications across Africa .

As Liberia enters its second decade of peace, its music industry continues to gain popularity. The Accountability Lab, an OSIWA partner, has been working with hip co (a Liberian urban music genre) musicians in Liberia to promote integrity and combat corruption. A recent performance at the University of Liberia (UL) highlighted the challenges faced by Liberian students in order to register for classes.

Stakeholders in Ghana’s education sector have stressed the need for a collective effort to find immediate solutions to risks in the sector that may engender corruption. While the risks are well known and have been documented, it is important to address the root causes so as to curb them from escalating into cases of corruption in the sector. The Transparency International Regional Coordinator for West Africa said there could be no talk of sustainable development of any country without a good educational system, thus the need to address corruption and risks of corruption in the sector.

In a bid to promote district level accountability in the delivery of education services, Action Aid has introduced an innovation which will address challenges to achieving high education standards. According to an Action Aid Project Officer in Mangochi, the initiative would address social accountability by working with the district council and building the capacity of various players in decision making positions to understand inclusive and accountable governance.

Corruption Watch conducted 10 investigations into allegations of corruption in schools during the past year, making it one of its corruption hotspots for 2015, according to its annual report released on Wednesday. "In all 10 cases the school principal was found to be the main culprit involved in the corrupt activities," the organisation said. Reports on corruption in schools made up 16% of the total complaints lodged with Corruption Watch, according to the report.

The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) has launched a massive Anti-Corruption awareness campaign in schools. The objective of the campaign is to create awareness among students about the effects of corruption and their role in the fight against corruption as future leaders. The LACC Anti-Corruption awareness campaign is an initiative of the Commission’s Education & Prevention Division which is partnering with the Pursuit for Positive Action Youth Organization (PPAYO).