German Education Minister Resigns over 'Plagiarism' Scandal

German Education Minister Annette Schavan has resigned after a university stripped her of her doctorate for plagiarism.

BBC has reminded that Duesseldorf's Heinrich Heine University voted last Tuesday to remove her doctorate following a review.

Schavan, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, insisted she would still fight the university's ruling.

Merkel accepted the resignation with deep regret.

"She knows that brains are the capital of people in this country. And she knows that good study conditions are just as important as promoting excellence," the Chancellor said, as cited by Spiegel.

In 2011, Germany's former Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg resigned after coming under fire over accusations of plagiarizing part of his PhD thesis.

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