"Visas for sale. Attractive prices". On Saudi classified advertising website 'mstaml', hundreds of ads blatantly advertise under the table deals and bureaucratic bribery. Jobs, visas, marriage loans, diplomas... virtually anything can be bought and paid for. Our Observer tells us why. Read more...

A 20-year-old tourism student has been expelled from a Sao Paulo university after chaos broke out on campus when she turned up in a short dress. Read more...

During a visit to a secondary school a few weeks ago, Egypt's highest Sunni authority came across a teenager wearing the full veil. Flabbergasted, he humiliated the girl, asking her "Why wear the niqab in a class full of girls?!" He then forced her to remove it. Read more...

UNESCO will choose its new general director this evening. It's Farouk Hosni, Egyptian Culture Minister since 1986, who looks set to succeed Koïchiro Matsuura at the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. But will the man who pledged to "burn" Israeli books really fit the bill? Read more...

Cheating is as old as exams themselves. In China however, cheating involves a cunning blend of technology, innovation, and acting. Rubbers with miniature screens, rulers with inbuilt cameras, earpieces... we're a long way from cheat sheets and writing on the inside of your pencil case. Read more...

This video claims to show dozens of Mexican residents crossing the border into Arizona and being driven by bus to a school in the town of Douglas, where they allegedly attend a state-funded school. The document has caused a furore in the state. Read more and watch the video...

This video of a UK teenager giving birth on a school field has been blocked by YouTube. Read more and see the video...

One of our Observers in Pakistan tells us that in the Sindh province alone there are more than 7,000 schools - partly financed by the World Bank - which don't actually exist. The money is pouring into the local authorities, but the schools are never opened. Read more...

Two years ago, an 11-year-old girl was beaten with a metal bar and thrown from her fourth-floor classroom by her history teacher. On Monday a Chinese chat forum dug up and posted a graphic news report about the incident, reigniting the debate about how such a tragedy came to pass. Read more and see the report...

"I am a local child. I want to receive compulsory education, too!"

Seven-year-old Xiao Qing's parents weren't married when she was born. Considered illegitimate by the state, she's not allowed to go to school until her mother pays a €900 fee. Not so easy when you're unemployed... Read more.