Harare– The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is set to confer degrees on its graduates this week, but the ceremony is shrouded in controversy as lecturers raise concerns about compromised academic standards during their strike-hit final semester The lecturers have warned of a scandal that they say will eclipse the infamous PhD degree awarded to former First Lady Grace Mugabe The Association of University Teachers (AUT) has filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court in Harare seeking to halt Friday’s graduation ceremony, which is to be presided over by President Emmerson Mnangagwa The AUT argues that UZ authorities are preparing to confer “bogus” degrees based on compromised academic processes, in contravention of the UZ Act provisions
UZ lecturers embarked on an indefinite strike at the beginning of the final semester for the graduating students, demanding a salary of US$2,500, a significant increase from their current earnings of approximately US$230 per month, plus a ZiG component equivalent to less than US$200 AUT president Phillemon Chamburuka stated in his founding affidavit that allowing the graduation ceremony to proceed would be a travesty of justice “I aver that this upcoming graduation certifies that students have been taught and examined according to the standards set in the university regulations and have met the minimum bodies of knowledge required by the regulations of their respective faculties,” he wrote Chamburuka further argued that the “premature scheduling not only places undue financial pressure on students, but also undermines their ability to participate meaningfully in the graduation ceremony because they have not completed their studies.” He added, “The applicant contends that the impending graduation is tainted by irregularities and should not proceed.”
The AUT’s application also highlights several specific instances of alleged academic irregularities
In the Faculty of Law, there was an unprecedented number of distinctions awarded, despite students attending lectures below the prescribed minimum threshold “Communication in the faculty of law shows that 60% of students in the international, economic and investment module received distinctions after being taught for two weeks by an inexperienced lecturer,” Chambaruka wrote “In the student and life skills law course, students had a single lecturer, yet 233 of the 469 students got distinctions Both these are abnormal and unprecedented results.”
Communication from the Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu), filed as part of the evidence in court, revealed that final social work students were asked to sit for a French examination despite never being taught the module
The examination period was allegedly marred by the delayed release of results, and students writing examinations without undergoing three weeks of learning “of a minimum 150 hours per module.”
The Council of Social Workers is also investigating serious allegations that students pursuing a postgraduate diploma in social work sat examinations for a module they were never taught “The Council of Social Workers has noted with concern the serious allegations surrounding the University of Zimbabwe’s post graduate diploma in social work’s working community health course,” the council wrote in a notice to all social workers and stakeholders on July 25 “Investigations are currently underway that will inform decisive action to ensure full compliance with the standards and ethics governing the social work profession in Zimbabwe in order to uphold the integrity of the profession.”
The AUT, in a letter to UZ Vice-Chancellor Paul Mapfumo on July 30, expressed deep concern about the unfolding situation, comparing it to the awarding of a dubious PhD degree to Mugabe in 2014 “At stake is the future of innocent students, who paid considerable funds to get decent education,” the AUT wrote to Mapfumo
“The university has already suffered reputational damage following the matter of the former first lady Grace Mugabe and unprocedural conferment of a PhD degree.”
The lecturers argued that the current scandal “pales in comparison to the present matter in scope, scale and depth,” and warned that it could cause “unprecedented, catastrophic, irreparable harm to the standing, reputation and goodwill of the University of Zimbabwe.”
Source: My Zimbabwe
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Source: Myzimbabwe
