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When schools opened last week, the graduates had to downgrade themselves and offer Ordinary and Advanced Level certificates, in a desperate attempt to get employment contracts as temporary teachers.
Higher and Tertiary Education Deputy Minister Lutho Tapela confirmed the development yesterday but could not give more details.
“We are aware of the matter. You may contact the permanent secretary for details,” he said.
Subsequent efforts to get comment from Higher and Tertiary Education Permanent Secretary Dr Washington Mbizvo were fruitless while the responsible Minister Dr Stan Mudenge was said to be in China on business.
The graduates have since petitioned ZOU Vice Chancellor Dr Primrose Kurasha.
They are also threatening legal action against the institution in the event their grievances are not urgently addressed.
Dr Kurasha yesterday said she would not discuss the issue over the phone.
“I am in a meeting right now. May you forward your questions in writing and we will properly respond to them like we always do when dealing with The Herald?” she said.
In a petition to Dr Kurasha, the teachers, who graduated two years ago after undergoing a three-year training programme, said:
“We hereby forward our petition seeking permission to hand over our grievance to the Chancellor himself (President Mugabe).”
“It is a great concern to note that our issue has not been solved for over one and half years after the first graduates to the course.
“We therefore seek the Chancellor’s intervention in order to rest all the conflicts surrounding the issue. We have endured the pain for long, (it’s) depriving us of our social, professional and economical status within the society.”
The graduates have now resorted to using their Ordinary Level certificates to secure temporary teaching vacancies in primary schools.
They have also threatened to sue ZOU.
“We hereby inform you that failure to meet the above request we shall seek legal intervention,” reads the petition.
ZOU pro Vice Chancellor academic affairs Professor Takawira Gwarinda said he was not comfortable discussing the issue over the phone.
ZOU is an institution of higher learning offering open and distance learning and started off as the Centre for Distance Education under the University of Zimbabwe in 1993 before it became a fully-fledged university.
Online Reporter