More than 200 graduates of the University of Goroka who were under the Government’s HELP program graduated with empty folders.
As the joy of graduation filled the air, a portion of the graduates who applied for the HELP (Higher Education Loan Program) for their tuition fee were grieved because they received empty folders, without the degrees.
About 278 Post Graduate Diploma in Education students had applied for loan under the HELP program to pay for their tuition fees and complete their studies
The aggrieved students expressed their concerns outside of the graduation ceremony recently.
“We are not getting the certificates we required, so we want those concerned to assure us to when they will give the diploma paper that’s including Post Graduate and final year pre-service four,” said Tombil Konga, who spoke on behalf of the graduates.
He said there wasn’t clear communication from UoG administration and Department of Higher Education Research Science and Technology (DHERST) on the loan payment arrangements.
“The information was not clear they should have advised us at the first place, some of the students did not have the school fees and the administration should have withdrawn us in the first place,” Mr Konga said.
Meanwhile, Minister for DHERST, Wesley Raminai when asked about the students’ grievances, he said the HELP program is a signature educational loan program of the Government and will continue with it.
Therefore, he assured everyone that the situation will be sorted in the next month or two, including payment of outstanding tuition fees owed to the UoG.
“Those students who were supposed to get funding for HELP, we will be able to help them as you can see we are in a transition period with the few changes at the department and hopefully we should be able to sort this out soon.”