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A Mail and Guardian reporter reveals the growing trend of fake degrees through her investigation. More specifically, Ashford University and Belford University offer life experience degrees, where qualifications can be obtained solely through the payment of a fee, without any training or studying required. These documents are available online and are being included on CVs across all levels of the employment sector.

The Uganda government was last evening left searching for alternative sources of funding following the withdrawal of support to the education sector by one of its key donors. The Dutch government announced it was withdrawing funding to a tune of nearly Shs50b (14 million Euro), citing concerns over persistent corruption, poor public financial management and poor standards.

Private and public universities in South Korea have engaged in creative accounting practices resulting in excessive hikes in tuition fees, the state audit agency said. Wrapping up an investigation into 35 randomly chosen universities, including nine public institutions, the Board of Audit and Inspection said the institutions had habitually manipulated their accounting books over the past five years to justify steep rises in tuition expenses.

Swaziland's Minister of Finance has told the Senate that each year the country loses nearly double the annual social services budget to corruption. He estimated that about US$10.6 million a month was disappearing – amounting to about US$128 million annually - while the government's 2010/11 budget allocated US$75 million to social services, including US$24.2 million for education.

Thousands of university students in Uzbekistan are being mobilized to help with the annual cotton harvest and some say they are working under abusive conditions, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports. The harvest lasts from the beginning of the academic year in September until late autumn and only students at prestigious universities in Tashkent are exempt from taking part. The use of student and child labor to pick cotton violates state and international labor laws.

Last week, Kenya fired its Higher Education Minister who had been suspended from cabinet last year following allegations of graft.