THE government last week tried to show a semblance of normalcy in the education sector by going ahead with Grade VII examinations and holding a graduation ceremony at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), when there was no learning for the better part of the year right from primary schools to universities.
The government also announced that the UZ would open tomorrow for the 2008/2009 academic year — almost three months after the day the new semester was supposed to have begun. Other state universities remain closed.
Lecturers, teachers and students unions on Friday slammed the move to open the UZ when the government — through higher and tertiary education permanent secretary, Washington Mbizo — acknowledged last week that staff records were in a shambles. They said the latest moves were a government attempt to "save face and create the impression that all is well".
"They cannot say they are opening for the sake of opening, like they have been doing with primary schools," said Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) president Clever Bere.
Bere said students "won’t sit idly and cowardly".
"If they want the university to open, they must ensure all is in place for the students to get quality tuition. If our demands are not met, we will not stop; we will continue to tackle the authorities head-on."
On Friday’s graduation, Bere said it was "doubtful if the results are a true reflection of what the students were supposed to have learnt since there were no proper lectures in the last semester".
Announcing the opening of the institution, Mbizo said there would be no student accommodation on campus. He however did not explain how the institution’s dilapidated ablution facilities would handle the more than 10 000 students expected at the institution.
As a result of the accommodation, transport and food, said Zinasu, students would find it "difficult to concentrate whilst hungry".
President of the Zimbabwe State University Lecturers Association (ZSULA), Government Phiri said lecturers were taking a wait and see attitude on the opening. He said it was "not practical" for lecturers to go to work tomorrow, as they will need many times more cash than they can withdraw at the bank for a one way trip.
"As long as our demands have not been met, we can not start teaching. It is not just about getting salaries, but salaries that are enough and accessible," said Phiri.
"We do not have power when it comes to deciding when the institution opens, that’s the administrative role of the Vice-Chancellor and his team. Our power is in the delivery of tuition services."
Lecturers’ representatives are on Tuesday morning scheduled to meet with officials from the Ministry of Finance to discuss payment alternatives. Phiri said only after that meeting would they be able to decide whether or not to resume duty.
Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general, Raymond Majongwe said the decision to open the UZ and administer public examinations was a "bad reflection on the government".
"Grade VII examinations were conducted in a chaotic and erratic manner. Some schools wrote after others," Majongwe said. "There were several mix-ups. In some cases, people who are not known at some schools were called to invigilate. There were certain instances where headmen also invigilated the examinations."
Although most primary and secondary schools managed to stick to their calendar, there was not much activity as teachers were on strike for the better part of this year. The situation was worsened by the political shenanigans before and after the March and June elections.
Last month, Zinasu petitioned Parliament to urgently act on "the grave distress of the students". The students union said "the infrastructure at all state institutions is in a dilapidated state" and that "reading and teaching materials are either not sufficient or not available".
The petition said because of the current economic melee, it had become "really difficult for students to sustain themselves".
UZ lecturer John Makumbe said it was a "very unwise decision to open the university now".
"It is a disaster. How can we open when there is no water? The toilets are in a terrible state right now when there is nobody there, and what when there are up to 14 000 people?" Makumbe said. "This is a perfect recipe for a cholera outbreak. It’s an unhealthy situation. There are no lecturers. We know from postgraduate courses that most lecturers have not been showing up for the obvious reason that they are not adequately paid."
At the Midlands State University authorities recalled the October salaries for lecturers. No explanation was immediately given.
Lecturers who spoke to The Standard said the move was just like dismissing them from work.
Secretary General of the MSU Lecturers’ Association (MSULA), Tenson Tawanda Mugodzwa said lecturers had been told to register again for them to be able to access their salaries.
"Although some of the lecturers went to register some did not as they felt that this was demeaning. It has never happened before. We have always known that the registration exercise only applies to students," fumed Mugodzwa.
However, those who registered also had their salaries of between $2 and $2,5 million recalled.
Nhamo Mhiripiri, a senior MSU lecturer, said the withdrawal of the salaries was humiliating. He said this was victimisation of the few lecturers still remaining in the country.
Attempts to get comment from the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Rungano Zvobgo, were fruitless. His secretary said he was attending the UZ graduation in Harare. The Registrar’s phones went unanswered.
The lecturers are demanding that professors at state universities get around US$8 000 and lecturers around US$5 000. Due to the licensing of shops to sell goods in foreign currency, lecturers, like most Zimbabweans, are now struggling to make ends meet as they cannot raise forex.
No official comment could be immediately obtained from the UZ. But speaking at the institution’s graduation on Friday, UZ Vice-Chancellor Levi Nyagura acknowledged "the past academic year had many challenges" but he said despite the challenges "the university remained focused on its core business".
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