PayPal, the international money transfer company has vowed to withdraw its services from companies involved in academic cheating. The announcement came after UK’s Education Secretary Mr. Damian Hinds urged PayPal to quit processing payments for firms involved in such ethical practices. Mr. Hinds told the BBC, “I am determined to beat the cheats who threaten the integrity of our system and I’m calling on online giants, such as PayPal, to block payments or end the advertisement of this services- it is their moral duty to do so.”
Recently, a report by British media companies revealed that Kenya is a hotbed for academic cheating. Most unemployed Kenyans work for essay writing companies where they produce academic papers for university students in the UK and US. It is a multi-million dollar industry with many players involved. UK students pay as much as £6,000 (KSh792,000) to essay writing firms for doctorate dissertations.
A statement from PayPal’s spokesperson to the BBC said, “PayPal is working with businesses associated with essay-writing services to ensure our platform is not used to facilitate deceptive and fraudulent practices in education.”
The ban on essay writing firms will be an overnight move. PayPal will evaluate businesses to determine which ones offer legitimate services and which ones are involved in academic cheating.
