adminAngeline Mpofu Chronicle Reporter
LECTURERS at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) are continuing with their boycott of Parallel and Masters’ Degrees classes insisting that university management should pay them their outstanding dues.
Nust’s director of information and public relations Felix Moyo yesterday said that management was still in dialogue with the lecturers in a bid to resolve the weeklong impasse.
“Nust has engaged lecturers and we hope by Wednesday we will be able to come up with a way forward. It is unfortunate that even paid up students are missing classes because of the lecturers’ industrial action,” he said.
The lecturers last week downed tools demanding to be paid outstanding salaries for teaching students on Parallel programmes and those on the Masters’ Degrees programmes.
The move has left scores of part time students – included those who have fully paid their fees, stranded as they are not attending classes.
A student’s representative who spoke on condition of anonymity yesterday said the situation has not changed.
“We are being punished for students with outstanding fees which is grossly unfair,” fumed the student leader.
He called on university authorities to quickly resolve the dispute so that classes could resume as soon as possible.
Nust’s Educators Association spokesperson Blessing Jona could not be reached for comment yesterday but last week he said lecturers will only return to class after being paid their outstanding salaries.
He said the Parallel and Masters’ programmes were self funded and therefore there was no excuse for failing to pay lecturers their salaries.
Jona said Nust authorities were diverting money meant to pay lecturers to other uses hence the decision to boycott classes.
Online Reporter