Varsity in hot water after marks ‘rigged’

It’s alleged that University of Zululand lecturers deliberately bumped up the results of an SRC member so he could pass fraudulently

The University of Zululand is embroiled in a fresh fraud scandal after it emerged that a student occupying a top position in the student representative council was awarded a pass mark in five modules, despite failing all of them.

The damning revelation comes in the wake of recent reports of senior government officials being investigated after allegedly buying academic degrees from the university.

But this is the first time that concrete proof has been found of marks being changed in the system.

The student, whose name is being withheld, graduated with a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) in May after his marks were changed between June last year and February.

The Mail & Guardian has seen a copy of the record of the student’s marks for the period January 1 2015 to July 18 2016. The file reflects all the student’s exam marks.

According to the record, the candidate was awarded 20% on June 22 last year for the communication and research skills module.

The pass mark is 50%. The record then shows that, on August 5, someone entered the university’s integrated tertiary system (ITS), on which exam marks are captured and stored, and changed the 20% to 50%.

Other examples of the student’s marks being changed include:

• The educational management module, where the 27% originally awarded on November 3 2015 was changed to 50% on February 2. The student would not have qualified to write a supplementary exam as a minimum of 45% is required; and

• The school practicum module, where a zero mark awarded on November 10 2015 was changed to 67% on February 10.

An official with a detailed knowledge of the ITS database said only two or three staff members had access to the system all the time.

“Lecturers have their user IDs and pass codes and can enter marks on to the system only on a specific date, after which the system automatically closes down.”

He said, after the system closed down, the exams section became the custodian of the database.

The official described the altering of marks as “fraud at its best”, adding: “Lecturers are definitely impli- cated. Sadly, nothing has been done and there are attempts to sweep it under the carpet.”

He believed that someone i n “higher authority” had given instructions to lecturers to change the student’s marks.

He said it was “highly questionable” why marks were entered into the system in August when no exams took place in July or August.

The university’s director of communications and marketing, Gcina Nhleko, said, under the Protection of Personal Information Act, they were not able to discuss the marks of any student. “Any report that the journalist may have has been passed to them illegally, against the university code of conduct, and is being investigated currently.”

An academic who did not want to be identified said it was alleged that a staff member had been instructed to change marks, and when she refused, she was suspended.

He said the PGCE programme was a one-year full-time programme and the student was enrolled for it in 2012.

“He did not attend classes. If he failed in 2012, he would have completed it the following year, but he only graduated in May this year.”

According to the prospectus, the PGCE may be completed over a year full-time or two years part-time.

Another staff member said: “Education opens up so many opportunities for you and to short-circuit that whole process just because you are connected is really sad for the really deserving students.

“I have worked closely with this student and was quite taken aback when I heard this is what happened.”

A student said that those who had falsely awarded marks should be severely punished.

“It will appear that those implicated may have been working with senior people from the university. What has the university done about the awarding of marks, because they are aware of this case?”

He said there was poor management and co-operative governance at the university, adding: “It’s moving from one crisis to another and there is no willingness to turn the university around.”

The student asked why the higher education department had not intervened at the University of Zululand, which has been closed since August 30.

“The University of KwaZulu-Natal was shut down [on Tuesday because of violent protest action] and the department has already intervened,” he said.