OVER 300 lectures from polytechnic, vocational training colleges and independent colleges affiliated to the Higher Education Examination Council (Hexco) are up in arms with the mother body over unpaid dues
The lecturers, who are marking examinations papers at Harare Polytechnic College, have allegedly been sleeping on empty stomachs since marking started on July 11, 2024 NewsDay can reveal.
Lecturers who spoke to this publication said they had sacrificed their meagre resources to travel to the capital for the marking exercise.
“We were supposed to receive advance payment from Hexco to cater for our travel and subsistence,” one lecturer said.
Information received indicated that Hexco had said it currently did not have funds to pay the markers.
Distressed lecturers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, however, bemoaned the abusive treatment they are getting from Hexco.
The lectures said they had not signed contracts to mark the scripts.
Lecturers also claimed they had been allocated accommodation in substandard hostels at Harare Polytechnic, which do not have running water.
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“When we got here, we were allocated a bucket to fetch water at the college for bathing and flushing in the toilets,” one lecturer said.
“We have some elderly lecturers and others who are finding it difficult to ferry water upstairs at the hostels.”
Another lecturer said: “Other lecturers that are almost finishing their marking allocations are worried about how they are going to find their way back home without payment.”
No comment could be obtained from the Higher and Tertiary Education ministry on Tuesday and yesterday over the matter.
However, this is not the first time that the examiners have clashed with the examinations body over unpaid dues.
Reports indicate that Hexco has, in the past, dropped lecturers for speaking out against non-payment and ill-treatment.
