SCORES of students at the Catholic University of Zimbabwe
(CUZ) staged a demonstration at the institution’s Bulawayo campus on Thursday
in protest, accusing the college administration of failing to rein in lecturers
fingered in demanding sexual favours from female students in return for marks.
The demonstration, which started early in the morning, saw
the university temporarily shut down and students putting a placard with their
petition at the gate.
When NewsDay Weekender arrived at the campus, some students
and lecturers had parked their cars outside the university gate while the others
were milling around with riot police roaming the university premises.
The institution’s Students Representative Council (SRC)
handed over a petition to the university authorities outlining their
grievances.
“Female students are complaining of sexual harassment from
lecturers and also there is victimisation of students by some lecturers. If we
complain, they say we will fail,” the petition read in part.
CUZ spokesperson Monica Mureriwa, told NewsDay Weekender
that they have instituted investigations into the matter.
“We have also held a series of meetings this morning
(Thursday) with our students as they are our primary focus. We will continue
engaging the students until we fully resolve these issues. The Catholic
University of Zimbabwe is guided by key values that are ethical behaviour,
collegiality, commitment, service and excellence. Ethical behaviour is our key
value. We believe in doing the right thing.”
“The claims of sexual harassment are of major concern to
us. They indicate an inconsistency with our key value of ethical behaviour, and
the university will not hesitate to take appropriate action where this value is
undermined.” Newsday
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