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A Chinese university president was sentenced a lifetime in jail for taking bribes and embezzlement in a court in Southeast Jianxi Province on Tuesday, according to Xinhua. So far this year, 32 university officials have been accused of taking bribes or other. In November, eight school leaders, including the president of the elite Communication University of China in Beijing were removed from their jobs for corruption.

The SA Democratic Teachers Union came out strongly against the basic education department on Sunday, accusing senior officials of being involved in a jobs-for-cash syndicate and claiming that high ranking officials in the education department had either accepted bribes or used undue influence to appoint teachers and principals. But this allegation was rejected by an education spokesperson.

Against the backdrop of the recent closure of Nodos International School, Ojo, by the Lagos State government over alleged involvement in examination malpractices during a national Examinations Council (NECO) Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations, the Principal of the school has been relieved of his job. Okafor also stated that all the teaching staff that were also found complicit in the examinations malpractices that led to the closure of the school have also been asked to resign their appointments.

The Basic Education Minister delivered a statement regarding the investigation into allegations of selling of posts for teachers following the release of preliminary report by her Task Team on the work done thus far. According to the minister the report, though not yet complete, has uncovered some very concerning tendencies that are being perpetuated in the appointment of teachers and principals. The full details of the report will be released at a later stage.

The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education last week slammed the parents for paying Form One entrance examination fees saying they did that at their own peril as the Government has set an enrolment date for all the schools in the country. He said the entrance exams were banned long back by his ministry and have remained illegal and should not be left to continue. Enrolment of Form One students for next year started yesterday with parents expected to use their children's Grade Seven results.

Many instances were witnessed across the country, where parents arrived at schools to return free uniform material vouchers which were invalid. There were also instances where parents complained of the insufficient value attached to these vouchers, and where parents were unable to purchase quality material for a specified price. Against this backdrop, several teachers and principals’ associations staged a joint media briefing in Colombo, highlighting the fact that teachers, students and parents, have been inconvenienced by the new voucher system.

A series of incriminating reports in 2015 indicate that corruption has hit several parts of the education sector. A countrywide audit being conducted by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has established that authorities have prejudiced schools of millions in levy scams. School authorities accused of embezzlement have been arrested and subsequently convicted, with some of them jailed for at least five years.

The ongoing Government audit of schools across the country has unearthed massive abuse of levies collected from parents and guardians purportedly to fund development of learning infrastructure. From the 1 800 (18 percent) schools audited so far, there are indications of massive doctoring of accounting records by the schools.

Harare is reportedly losing thousands of dollars in revenue as some of its schools are not remitting tuition fees to the local authority. The city has ordered investigations to be conducted on four schools and a crèche. A bursar at one of the schools is set to appear before a disciplinary committee to answer charges of abusing tuition fees.

An ITV documentary has investigated whether some schools are taking duplicitous measures to achieve top marks. The problem is said to have developed after league tables based on exam results were introduced in 1992, putting more pressure on schools to perform well. Schools can obtain more financial rewards if they feature highly in league tables, while the jobs of heads and teachers are at risk if a bad Ofsted inspection means the school goes into special measures.