adminREPORTS of academic fraud or dishonesty involving some tertiary institutions or regulatory authorities, which emerged this week, are quite shocking.
This shameless conduct, which can land culprits behind bars or have them blacklisted or banned from practice for life, needs to be dealt with decisively.
There are genuine fears we might end up producing incompetent professionals if we don’t address this problem because those who do it through shortcuts won’t be competent enough to execute their duties.
Academic dishonesty, or fraud, involves cheating in an exam, plagiarism and, in more extreme cases, bribery.
This could be the case with some rookie lawyers, who allegedly got certificates from the Council for Legal Education, through some dubious means.
The Council for Legal Education boss, Huggins Hardwork Duri, is now in trouble for allegedly issuing 19 certificates to the lawyers.
These lawyers, in most cases, didn’t even need to sit for their conversions tests but still went on to get the necessary certificates they needed to apply for admission as legal practitioners.
The Council for Legal Education is responsible for regulating legal education, training as well as the administration of conversion examinations for foreign legal qualification holders.
However, Duri was caught in the storm after one of the informants alerted the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission about his criminal and shameful conduct.
The rot saw Duri offer 19 certificates to undeserving individuals.
What makes this case delicate is that it involves the same people who should offer legal representation to the masses.
This kind of betrayal is totally unacceptable at a time when Government, through its relevant arms, is educating people to desist from corrupt activities.
These corrupt activities have made life unbearable for some people who have lost their savings to criminal syndicates.
In this case, the Council for Legal Education boss, Duri, was sup-posed to stick to his job requirements.
He was simply expected to order all the 19 students to write their examinations as required by procedure and the laid down conditions.
But, instead, he decided to come up with shortcuts for his own financial benefits.
Academic institutions should plug all the holes which have led to academic dishonesty.
This practice is harmful to our learning institutions whose products may end up being discredited on the job market.
In the worst case scenario, failure to guard against academic fraud can lead to some people being deregistered or banned for life.
Shortcuts to success have over the years proved costly as they come back to haunt those involved in these shameful acts.
Such acts stink, when it involves practitioners, who are supposed to handle critical issues like legal matters.
In legal issues, honesty is everything.
In life, we all want to be attended to by competent people in various fields, be it those related to legal matters or health.
Those who try to bend the rules should face the music while regulatory authorities must find ways to ensure that such malpractice doesn’t happen again.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter