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A report conducted by the Global Corruption Barometer Asia found that nearly 50 per cent of those who paid bribes were asked to, while 32 per cent of those who used personal connections said they would not receive the service otherwise. With the highest bribery rate in the region, (39 per cent) India also has the highest rate of people using personal connections to access public services (46 per cent). 63 per cent of citizens think that if they report corruption, they will suffer retaliation. The daily practice of corruption and bribery remains extremely high, with almost one in five citizens paying a bribe to access key public services, such as health care or education.

Private universities in Yemen charge tuition fees in US dollars and create their own currency exchange rates, causing many students to drop out of school. Until 2017, the Central Bank of Yemen in Sanaa set the price of the dollar at 250 Yemeni rials. However, private universities in Taiz set the exchange rate at 400 rials for a dollar and the universities of Aden at 500. Other private universities require students in Aden to pay in dollars and do not accept rials. This forces students to resort to the black market, with an exchange rate of 820 rials per dollar.

As schools and universities move to online instruction, the new software Turnitin Originality is designed to support academic integrity by providing tools to students to self-check and correct themselves, and for professors to identify potential misconduct so that they can intervene. When reviewing submissions, Turnitin Originality checks whether the work is similar to other known text, or if there are indications that it was not written by the student. This data will facilitate conversations between instructors and students about how to discover and express their authentic voice.

To fill the gap between demand and constant increasing supply, many players in the higher education sector live by the saying that ‘fake it if you cannot make it’. South of Punjab has been hit by fake education. In Alipur, a branch of a known college chain claimed to be affiliated with GC University, Faisalabad. Many students paid fees to get registered, however, the university website doesn’t recognize it as an affiliated college. The robbed students moved administration and made complaints. But the institutions are supported by the feudal lords in the area.

Many Indian students fall prey to unscrupulous middlemen and end up being admitted to fake or sub-standard universities after spending substantial amounts of money. In order to help students authenticate courses and institutions in America and prevent fraud, the United States Embassy in India is launching a specially designed app. The US app developed as a pilot project in partnership with an Indian visa and immigration consultancy firm will provide guidance from trained advisories and information on scholarships.

Two years ago, a Polish economist leading a private university in Warsaw, was contacted by headhunters from Moscow. They had spotted his profile on LinkedIn and wanted a Russian-speaking European university leader to reform the prominent Narxoz University in Almaty, a city in the far east of vast Kazakhstan, a few hours’ drive from the borders of north-western China. Sixteen months into his job as rector, he told Times Higher Education about his efforts to root out cheating, plagiarism, corruption and staid teaching, which have led to the firing of hundreds of academics.

Fees for manipulating entrance test scores are between $80 to $20 000 for the most popular programs, such as computer science, medicine or engineering. Many feel the only way to clean up the system is to expand educational opportunities.