President Mnangagwa presides over UZ graduating ceremony amid fake results scandal

President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa will this morning preside over a University of Zimbabwe (UZ) graduation ceremony at the main campus sports ground in Harare.

This happens amid deep scandal after seven students who failed had their results fraudulently altered by lecturers to fake passes at the behest of the institution’s academic leaders, The NewsHawks can reveal.

According to the programme, the event starts at 8am at the UZ Sports Ground.

The results scam is a blemish on an auspicious occasion of academic excellence and blot on UZ’s already badly damaged reputation and its academic leaders’ integrity.

Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education officials and staff at UZ Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Mapfumo’s office say seven students from the Faculty of Veterinary Science led by its dean Professor Gift Matope were given fraudulent pass marks through a corrupt process after they had initially failed.

UZ is the country’s citadel of higher education, but it is now lowly ranked in Africa due to a poor learning environment, perennial underfunding and scarcity of resources, lack of quality research and brain drain, among other things, exacerbated by the country’s protracted economic problems.

It is now languishing at the bottom half of Top 100 universities in Africa, whose list is dominated by South African institutions.

The fake marks were awarded to students after lecturers were pressured to change the results on Monday instead of them organising supplementary examinations.

The students concerned are: Linford Masotcha: Small Animal Medicine (41%); Anorld Mushayi: Small Animal Medicine (40%); Obey Kadyamajongwe: Small Animal Medicine (43%) and Small Animal Surgery (44%); Adeline Musunda: Small Animal Surgery (43%); Moses Madenga: Small Animal Medicine (46%), Small Animal Surgery (40%) and Herd Health (45%); Tadiwa Karumbidza: Small Animal Medicine (43%); Wright Zvomuya: Small Animal Medicine (40%) and Small Animal Surgery (40%).

A senior ministry official said: “UZ students recently got their results and those who failed were supposed to repeat the subjects, sit for supplementary examinations after six weeks, but the university’s academic leaders instructed lecturers to revisit the marks and make them pass without resitting their exams.

“Under the university’s rules, a student who fail some subjects sits for supplementary exams.
A student who fails one or more modules may apply to repeat failed modules, while a student who fails one module other than the Research Methods, Technical Writing and Design Project Module may be allowed to proceed to Dissertation.”

A UZ academic said:
“Lecturers were instructed to change the results and that is a fraud. It’s criminal.”
Fellow students say they were shocked to see their colleagues who failed on the graduation list. They expressed outrage over the scam.
One student described the issue as a “fraud” and “criminality”.

An academic said the scandal compromises the integrity of those involved and the institution itself.
“Writing supplementary exams, carrying over modules and re-evaluation or alternative assessment are part of the university education system,but these processes should be done transparently and in accordance with academic policies or rules.

“Simply giving a pass mark to a student who failed without proper justification or process can compromise academic standards and integrity. The credibility of academics is also affected by things like these.

“It undermines the value of academic achievement and creates an unfair advantage.
It also sets a very dangerous precedent, making it difficult to maintain consistent grading standards and professionalism.

“This can also lead to lack of accountability in the system; absolving the student of responsibility for their situation, misrepresenting the student’s true abilities and understanding of the subject matter. It may set the student up for failure in future academic or professional pursuits.

“However, there might be exceptional circumstances where a student’s failure is not y their fault, hence there re-evaluation or alternative assessment, and supplementary examinations.”

The UZ has been rocked by some scandals and problems, including issuance of fake PhD degrees, students who come through the back door, hiring people to study and write for some mature entrants, political interference, restrictions on academic freedom, nepotism and corruption; a sad epitaph to a hitherto great institution.

Newshawks