BackOn 4 April 2022, the Ombudsman Commission received a complaint from a group of 445 graduates from Balob Teachers College who graduated in 2019, 2020, and 2021 and did not receive their certificates.
The complaint was made against the Department of Education and Balob Teachers College for causing undue delay in the processing and issuing of the Teaching Certificates and the Provisional Teacher Registration Certificates to the graduates.
The complaint alleged that students who graduated in 2019, 2020, and 2021 were still waiting for their Diploma in Primary Teaching Certificates to be issued to them together with the Provisional Teacher Registration Certificate by the Balob Teachers College.
The graduates alleged that they have met all the requirements set by the College Administration including upgrading their Grading at the recognized FODE Centre to meet the required GPA to be able to be certificated but were still delayed by the College Administration and Department of Education.
The Commission pursued the investigation and obtained information assessed them and continued communication with the Department of Education and Balob Teachers College to ascertain the status of the certificates. The investigation was commenced pursuant to Section 219 of the Constitution and Section 13 of the Organic Law on the Ombudsman Commission to ascertain the cause of the delay and to ensure that the complainants were properly assisted with the matter they complained about.
On 16 August 2023, one of the complainants wrote to the Commission on behalf of the 445 graduates and thanked it for investigating their complaint and for ensuring that they received their certificates. The representative confirmed that they received all their certificates and expressed their gratitude to the Commission for their efforts.
On 23 August 2023, the Principal of Balob Teachers College wrote to the Commission and confirmed that the College received the Diploma Certificates and Provisional Teacher Registration Certificates from the Department of Education for all the graduates from 2019, 2020, and 2021.
Source: The Ombudsman Commission of Papua New Guinea
