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16 pilots and 65 crew members of the national airline have been suspended by the Pakistan authorities for possessing fake degrees. On 29 December, a chairman of the Senate Committee, strongly opposed the pilots and cabin crew’s dismissal and suggested that the salaries of the culprits be reduced instead of firing them. The issue of who is responsible has become politicized. It seems that many pilots and cabin crews with fake academic degrees obtained their degrees through political connections. The fake degrees issue has been in the limelight in the country since 2010, as many parliamentarians faked their academic qualifications to be eligible to contest elections when a new rule made it compulsory for candidates to possess a bachelor degree.

Several politicians are accused of ‘misleading voters’ during elections last year and for having fake or questionable academic qualifications. Deputy Foreign Minister’s academic credentials were the first to be called into question. After a police report, he admitted the unaccredited Cambridge International University in the United States granted his degree, which some have claimed was a diploma mill.

Higher Education Degree Datacheck (Hedd), which monitors fake degrees, has recorded 243 fake institutions. Manchester Open University advertised degrees for fees up to £35,000 on its website and claimed to have a campus on Oxford Road, with 2,000 students from 90 different countries studying degrees in history, English and medicine. Officials were unable to find a trace of the institution. The Oxbridge University of Kilmurry, providing master's degrees, doctorates and professional qualifications on its website is registered in the Gambia.

According to Transparency International, 66 per cent of the money Nigerian governments allocate to education is stolen by corrupt officials. Resource misallocation, corrupt procurement, exchange of sex for grades, examination malpractices, fake qualifications, teacher absenteeism, and corrupt recruitment practices are just some examples of the challenges the education systems is facing. This affects the quality of education, inclusion and learning outcomes with devastating consequences for national economic growth.

The T.M. Landry College Preparatory School in Louisiana is under federal investigation over its college admissions practices, transcripts with fake grades, non-existent school clubs and fictitious classes. Many students accused the founder of the school of abusing them and falsifying their transcripts. The court records reveal that he was accused of choking and dragging a student. In the investigation, the founder said that wall-sits and kneeling were used to motivate students and prepare them for the challenges of the real world.

The African Union report shows that at least 57 percent of people who make contact with schools in Malawi pay bribes. Informal payments threaten children’s rights and welfare. For example, informal charges by teachers for teaching, and for additional items such as school meals, books, uniforms or exams can drive poorer students in particular to miss school. In addition, the acquisition of fake or fraudulent qualifications affect the learning outcomes of children.

According to a report published by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the International Quality Group, corruption in higher education vary between countries but it highlights unethical, inappropriate, and illegal practices. Some examples include university leaders and professors with fake or undeserved doctoral degrees impacting on the governance of some Russian universities, ‘ghost advising’ or absenteeism by senior academics, delegating their responsibilities for teaching or supervision to junior colleagues or research students, is widespread in Kosovo, or students and teachers sexually harassing, threatening or harming academic teaching staff in Uganda.

The Institute of Business Economics’ rector and deputy are charged with fraud, forging of documents and their sale, commercial bribery, and mediation. One of the Institute applicants said that the admissions office offered her to pay 450 thousand rubles ($7,054) for three years of study. The fact that the university was deprived of its license two years earlier did not prevent the rector from concluding contracts with candidates for paid higher education.

110 offices selling forged degrees from non-Saudi universities have been identified by the Ministry of Higher Education. Prices for a fake bachelor’s or master’s degree can cost anywhere from SR3,000 to SR30,000 while a bogus doctorate can cost up to SR90,000 from an institution in the west. The degrees supplied by these diploma mills are issued by institutions that offer courses without approved standards or are simply issued by the transfer of money into an overseas account. Measures have been taken to detect such agencies.