Australia's education minister has written to the head of the agency that oversees the country's higher education standards expressing his "utmost concern" about suspected systemic plagiarism by international students in Australian universities.
The minister, Christopher Pyne, has asked the acting chief commissioner of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, Nicholas Saunders, to "remind all higher education providers of their obligations" under federal rules to "deliver higher education in Australia." The minister asked the agency to “seek assurances from all higher education providers that they have in place rigorous academic governance processes to mitigate the risk of such occurrences.”
Pyne also wants TEQSA to ensure that institutions that have been named in news media reports as having had acts of plagiarism "are taking the necessary steps to counteract this type of student misconduct."
It was reported last weekthat the University of Newcastle and the University of Wollongong are investigating the use of the MyMaster service, which allows students to purchase essays and exams online. The University of Technology Sydney, Macquarie University and the University of New South Wales are also investigating.
Pyne has asked Saunders to report back to him "before the end of 2014" and to work with the federal Education Department.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/11/26/australian-government-orders-inquiry-foreign-student-plagiarizing