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According to an opposition leader, the businessman Agarwal's pledge last week of $1-billion to set up Vedanta University, in the South Indian state of Orissa, is a gimmick to divert attention from his corrupt mining deal with the state's government. The $1-billion pledge, which if realized would be the largest gift ever made to a higher-education institution, is intended to create a multidisciplinary elite university for 100,000 students that would open in 2008.

MPIGI district has dismissed over 73 primary school head teachers over incompetence and lack of proper academic qualifications. About 50 schools were given new head teachers. Over 100 teachers were examined. The exercise was part of the district's primary schools re-organisation programme aimed at improving education standards.

Over 300 ghost teachers have been registered in universal primary education schools in the Mukono district. According to the Chairman of the district education committee, five schools in the remote areas were headed by one person. The high number of fake teachers has led to poor performance in schools because of very few teachers compared to the number on the payroll.

The Mayor of Ngoma District has issued a stern warning to school headmasters who inflate school registers with non-existent students and charge high fees on students sponsored by charity organisations. The authorities would punish anyone found guilty.

A secondary school head teacher has finally allowed internal auditors from the regional education office to audit schoolbooks where money is reported to have gone missing. Apart from being barred from the school, the auditors were also threatened with legal action by the head teacher.

An auditor has been charged for having changed business records in an effort to help conceal the theft of more than $11 million. The district superintendent is accused of stealing more than $2 million; the assistant superintendent for $4 million and a former school accounting clerk for $780,000. Money shall have been used on artwork, jewellery, foreign trips and home mortgages. The scandal that has resulted in a state-wide changes in the way school finances are audited.

Beijing municipality is revising the existing norms on professional ethics for the primary and middle school teachers. The revision will involve setting up of a series of systems concerning the post responsibility, and supervision and punishment of teachers in implementing the norms of the professional ethics. Unqualified teachers will be removed from the profession.