ZOU fails to pay lecturers

ZIMBABWE Open University (ZOU) is reportedly struggling to pay teaching and marking allowances for its part-time lecturers, with some claiming that they had gone for almost a year without receiving their dues.

Sources at the country's only open university revealed to Sunday News that less than half of the institution's part-time tutors had so far received their allowances, with the rest not certain when they would be paid.

The sources added that the institution, due to the serious financial constraints it was facing, had resorted to making payments in batches, in alphabetical order and had so far only gone up to the letter L.

ZOU has a complement of 800 part-time lecturers at the institution's 10 regional centres across the country.

Part-time lecturers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that they were last paid in August last year and had not received their allowances for the past two semesters.

The failure by ZOU to pay part-time lecturers' allowances has caused apprehension among the tutors, some of whom were threatening to quit.

Part-time lecturers are hired at the open learning institution to conduct tutorials as well as mark student's assignments and examinations. For tutorials, part-time lecturers are paid $3,50 per hour for one module and $1,33 for marking assignments and examinations. Part-time lecturers said each lecturer was owed about $350 by the university.

"Normally we get our allowances soon after results come out, but this time we have been made to wait longer. We last got paid in August and have not received anything for the semester that ended in December last year. Now we have finished another semester and we are still owed.

So in essence ZOU now owes us money for two semesters, which is actually a full year," said a disgruntled lecturer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another lecturer from Bulawayo region, who also declined to be named, added that the institution was giving them a raw deal.

"The rates are low yet the money takes forever to come. What is frustrating us is that we have not received any communication from the authorities explaining the delays. If this is how they want us to work I don't think we will be prepared to continue. When a person goes to work they do so because they want money. If the money does not come it would be better to stay at home and not work," said the angry lecturer.

Several other lecturers from ZOU's various regions across the country confirmed that they were yet to receive payment for the last semester of 2013 and were also owed allowances for the just ended semester.

However, ZOU director of communications Mrs Ndai Nyamakura said the institution did not owe part-time lecturers anything as it had paid full allowances for the semester ending December 2013.

"The information that I have at hand is that we have paid everything that we owed for the semester that ended in December last year. I don't recall us using the alphabetical order to make payment. However, I will check with the office to see if we still owe anyone.

"What I know for sure is that we are now concentrating on paying allowances for the just ended semester," she said.