The Department of Education (DepEd) was asked to take accountability and corruption cases that led to the alleged fire sale of laptops in retail and online stores. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines said that DepEd failed to pay its contractor in the handling and distribution of billions of pesos worth of laptops to public schools which caused the subcontractors to sell the items to surplus shops to recover their investments. ACT called for a comprehensive report on how DepEd used its funds as well as a concrete plan on how public funds can be recovered, and projects still be realized.

An audit has been launched last November to investigate alleged corruption in all accounts at Delhi University’s college. 180 books purchased for a lakh never reached the college. The principal misused his position and engaged in various irregularities, including UGC examinations.

An official of the Basic Education Community Schools from South Punjab was caught selling around 3,500 textbooks. He also blackmailed teachers in Pakpattan and Okara into paying him between Rs1,000-Rs1,500 for the delivery of books to the education warehouse. Reports state teachers complained several times to relevant education authorities but received no response.

Ghost teachers and ghost schools are a burden on the education system in rural areas of Balochistan and the government needs to take concrete steps to repair the damage that is caused to its children and their future. Most public schools lack basic facilities like boundary walls, chairs, toilets, clean drinking water, electricity, and even teachers, not to mention the absence of study material like course-books and other infrastructural needs. Authorities continue to pay teachers despite their wilful absence and a great number of them are hired based on political affiliation rather than their qualification and educational achievements.

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is in talks with HRD Ministry, CBSE, AICTE, Medical Council of India (MCI) and other educational bodies to introduce course content on corruption and ethics to make the students aware of the scourge and its consequences. If implemented, students in schools and colleges will soon be imparted lessons on the menace of corruption, its debilitating impact on socio-economic sphere and ways of tackling it.

In an unprecedented crackdown on academic misconduct, as many as 179 university professors from some 110 universities in South Korea were indicted on Monday after an extensive criminal investigation into a huge copyright scam. The professors have been charged with republishing existing textbooks written by others under their own names by modifying the covers with the alleged connivance of the publishing companies.

Having barely recovered from the protests over history curriculum in July, the Ministry of Education finds itself under heat again. This time, over failing to prevent the undue influence of high-ranking officials who serve in positions at private universities right after their retirement. Twenty-one officials who retired from the MOE allegedly assumed positions at private colleges in the past 20 years. Some are said to be receiving lucrative sums in addition to their retirement pensions, while others are said to be well past retirement age.