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A pilot program 'Fighting against corruption through schools' will teach students and parents to identify and act against dishonesty in their schools and the rest of society. Most civil servants in Cameroon, including teachers, earn low salaries and rely on bribes to feed their families.

KABALE district has sacked 280 primary school teachers who were either on trial or untrained and recruited 240 to replace them. The 280 teachers had been appointed last year when the department had a shortage of teachers. The education sector is now carrying out a massive exercise to get rid of teachers with fake or forged papers.

Poor performance in the 2004 Primary leaving Examinations has been blamed on the many teachers who used fake academic documents and poor sanitation in numerous schools. Of the 5,655 pupils who sat for PLE last year, only 90 passed in grade one, while 3,892 failed.

120 teachers have no qualifications, i.e. no documents or inadequate ones. Many primary teachers in remote areas lack qualifications and some do not even have O' level certificates.

The education ministry has failed to take action against teachers and other education officers identified as guilty of misconduct by various investigations and commissions over the years. Affairs between schoolgirls and teachers, and schools misusing equipment given to them to improve the quality of education are among the countless problems that had emerged from investigations.

The Ministry of Education is to launch an investigation into rotting maize meal for its school feeding programme found at a school. 500 bags of maize meal had been stored at a secondary school and not delivered to the intended beneficiaries. The company Meal Management Services holds the contract for the supply and delivery of food to primary schools in six regions.

Lawmakers in Ondo State have approved a jail term of between three and four years or a fine for principals who engage in examination malpractices in public schools. Any candidate who leaves an examination hall with intent to cheat or secure any unfair advantage for himself risk to pay a fine and/or three years imprisonment.

Kogi State Primary Education Board (SPEB) has commenced the verification of primary school teachers' certificates in the state in the effort to sanitize and raise the standard of teaching in primary schools across the state.

The Mpumalanga education department has begun disciplinary hearings for 61 teachers accused of being involved in last year's matric exam cheating. Investigations revealed that candidates were assisted, possibly by teachers, in one or more subjects. Irregular practices took place at 10 of the province's Mpumalanga's 587 examination centres.

An exam scandal has forced the provincial agriculture department to withhold bursaries. The irregularities have affected 38 schools and at least 2,000 exam papers.