US-owned payments company PayPal announced that it would withdraw its platform from essay writing firms in an effort to curb academic cheating.
The move comes after UK Education Secretary - Damian Hinds called on PayPal and similar firms to cease offering their services to sites that aid lazy students in cheating- with Kenya identified as a leader in the essay-writing market.
"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," revealed a spokesperson for the payment firm while speaking to the BBC.
The US-owned payment processing platform has been one of the most popular among the essay writing community, especially in Kenya.
PayPal through their spokesperson went on to disclose that starting next week Wednesday, they would begin contacting essay-writing firms to formally notify them of their decision to stop any future services.
Once their decision is enacted, thousands of Kenyans who have been heavily dependent on essay writing are set to experience the full brunt of the new directive.
Kenyan universities have a zero tolerance system on cheating but there is no law that bars Kenyans from aiding foreign students.
The Daily Nation Tuesday exposé revealed that the vice was rife within Kenya's education system as well.
"For Ksh30,000 to Ksh50,000, depending on the course, one can get a research project done in two weeks to a month," stated an excerpt from the publication.
A motion is set to be tabled in the UK parliament to ban all forms of advertising for any assistance in academic work.
