El ministro de Educación Superior sudafricano expresó su preocupación por el creciente número de instituciones falsas que conceden doctorados honoríficos, en su mayoría a celebridades, entre ellas una empresaria y personalidad de la telerrealidad y un artista local. El ministro pidió al Consejo de Educación Superior que investigue y asesore sobre las medidas apropiadas en todos los casos denunciados de estos títulos honoríficos falsos.

Five professors at Hassan I University in Settat, Morocco, are under investigation after conversations on social media were leaked in which they were allegedly discussing the ‘sextortion’ of female students for extra credits. The academic community called for a Business Ethics module in the university staff training programmes that would stop promoting such abuses.

Following the Covid-19 confinements, there were multiple reports of misconduct in online assessments: plagiarism, use of notes, an online file-sharing service, mobile phones, or collaboration with other students. Five of the eight New Zealand universities recorded an increase in cheating in 2020 compared to 2019: 258% at the University of Canterbury, 104% at the University of Lincoln, 61% at the University of Waikato, 21% at the University of Victoria and 10% at Massey University.

The Macao Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating a University of Macao administrative official and two other partners on corruption charges. They helped a contractor bid for the construction of residential colleges and falsified documents. The main suspect received bribes for projects valued at MOP 220 million (US$27.4 million).

A report on the University of Lagos (UNILAG) by the Presidential Visitation Panel, which is investigating the affairs of UNILAG between 2016 and 2020, has revealed that two of the states of the Federation of Nigeria, namely Lagos and Ogun, lost NGN2.9 billion (US$7 million) due to gross under-deduction of staff salaries over five years by the institution. The seven-member panel detected cases of contract splitting and frivolous contract awards.

A research team from the Canadian University of Dubai has identified a new approach to combating academic integrity using machine learning techniques. The new method applies an algorithm to identify cases of cheating through post-exam analysis of student grades from quizzes, midterm exams, and the final exam of an entire class. This technique can complement the work of commercial plagiarism detection software and provide a deterrent and non-intrusive alternative to remotely proctored exams.

The University of Energy and Natural Resources in Ghana and the University of Rwanda have been the only African public universities providing reports including information such as the university structure, number and qualifications of academic and support staff, total enrolment, and the number of graduates. These reports are a model for universities to adopt and a means of promoting transparency, integrity, and accountability amongst faculty members, staff, students, and communities.

On the English version of its website, Kim Il Sung University has listed past, current and alleged partnerships with “sister universities” and claims, “international academic exchanges are in full swing”. Many of the named universities disagree and do not want to be associated with North Korea. They try to have their names removed from the website, but so far the University has failed to respond to their requests.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission’s investigation reveals that 10 national universities in South Korea allegedly misappropriated KRW9.4 billion of students’ tuition fees. The funds were intended to cover student guidance programmes and safety activities carried out by professors and staff during lunch hours, after work or on weekends. Employees at one of the national universities overstated the number of such activities by changing locations and clothes earning KRW1.2 billion.