Mukungu : when cheating becomes systemic and threatens pupils’ futures

SOS Médias Burundi

Nyanza, November 11, 2025 – In the Nyanza district, in Burunga province in southern Burundi, a new scandal is shaking the education system. Eighteen pupils from the Mukungu Teacher Training College have been permanently expelled after an organized cheating scheme with the complicity of a teacher who is now on the run. This incident highlights a growing scourge in Burunga province : academic cheating has become commonplace.

This scandal, occurring barely a year after another similar case at the same school, illustrates a worrying trend : academic cheating is becoming entrenched in the region’s schools, much to the dismay of parents and educators.

A scandal organized at the heart of the school

According to several internal sources, the 18 pupils – 16 girls and 2 boys – were caught with reused exam papers from their psychopedagogy course. They had collected approximately 130,000 Burundi francs (Bif) to bribe their teacher to alter their results.
The disciplinary board, meeting last Friday in the presence of parents and the local education authority, confirmed their permanent expulsion. The pupils admitted to acting at the teacher’s direct request, who allegedly orchestrated the entire scheme.

For over a week, he has remained on the run. According to witnesses, he left the Nyanza district in the middle of the night, aboard a dugout canoe.

One of his colleagues, who requested anonymity, said he was deeply shocked :

“He has betrayed our profession. But we must also understand that some teachers, poorly paid and under pressure, end up crossing the line.”

A disturbing pattern

This is not the first time the Mukungu Teacher Training College has been embroiled in cheating. Last year, two pupils in the teacher training program were caught taking the state exam without having passed the year. The investigation revealed the school administration’s involvement, but no firm sanctions followed.
For many observers, these repeated cases demonstrate that cheating is no longer an isolated incident, but a deeply entrenched system.

A widespread problem in the Nyanza district education authority

In the Nyanza District Education Authority, teachers and parents have been denouncing the buying of points, the manipulation of results, the protection of teachers who commit fraud, and the lack of sanctions for years.

“Here, cheating is no longer an exception; it’s a method,” confides a local educator.

The phenomenon extends beyond Mukungu : last October, in the same province, a former principal of the Kivumya Primary School in the Rumonge district was dismissed for selling exam papers to some parents.

Outraged parents, disoriented youth

Anger is simmering in families.

Agnès Nduwimana, president of the Education for All association, speaks of a “silent corruption” that is destroying educational values :

“How can our children learn to work hard if some are buying grades? School must once again become a place of integrity.”

Parents are demanding the creation of anti-fraud units in each school, composed of teachers, parents, and pupils, to monitor exams and report abuses.

An education system under pressure

In a context of low salaries, overcrowded classrooms, and inadequate administrative oversight, teachers are exposed to temptation.

“A teacher who earns less than 200,000 Burundi francs per month is vulnerable. The system must be reformed to reduce the poverty that fuels corruption,” explains a teacher from Nyanza.

Dr. Pascal Niyongabo, a researcher at the University of Burundi, warns :

“If schools lose their moral value, the entire country loses its future.”

Authorities promise to act

The Nyanza district education department has promised to forward the case to the provincial directorate, and even to the public prosecutor’s office, if corruption is confirmed. An internal memo calls on school principals to increase vigilance and organize awareness sessions on academic integrity.

“Education must once again become a sanctuary of knowledge, not a marketplace for cheating,” declared a ministry official, reached in Bujumbura, the commercial capital where the ministry headquarters are located.

A problem deeply rooted in society

In the streets of Nyanza, people are asking themselves : isn’t cheating in school a reflection of a deeper problem?

“People always say that whoever pays the piper gets ahead, so they end up believing it,” laments a 9th-grade pupil.

Restoring trust in Burundian schools

The Mukungu High School scandal reveals a crisis of values, fueled by poverty, social pressure, and a lack of oversight. But it also offers an opportunity for reform : to put merit and integrity back at the heart of education.

As a retired teacher from Rumonge says :

“When a child learns to cheat at school, they will cheat in life. That’s where a country’s corruption begins.”