Graduates still wait for certificates

The issue of the instant delivery of diplomas to graduates in the higher education sector has been a quagmire in the lives of millions of Cameroonians who for over two decades have been grappling with testimonials which often meet rejection or doubt in employment or academic circles, both at home and abroad.

With so many opportunities squandered and so many dreams unfulfilled, the issue of lack of diplomas has, to an embarrassing extent, thrown discredit to the fruits of Cameroon’s higher education system.

Sources at the Ministry of Higher Education blame the situation on the economic crises that rocked the national economy in the eighties and early nineties, resulting in the suppression of budget heads for the production of diplomas. The same lack of financial resources, same sources say, still prevails, thus explaining the prevalence of testimonials in most State Universities.

However, with the new university governance dispensation that lays emphasis on the certification of university qualifications, stakeholders have felt the time has come to bring back the practice of instant issuance of diplomas upon graduation.

To that effect, the Minister of Higher Education, on the sidelines of the last University Games in Douala, issued an instruction for State Universities to offer diplomas instead of testimonials. The Higher Education Ministry had taken the bull by the horns by issuing diplomas to holders of the BTS, HND and DSEP examinations, amongst others, for the past four years.

Following suit, the University of Yaounde I started in 2014 in grand style, issuing diplomas to a good number of batches of faculty graduates who before then had only testimonials to show. At the University of Buea, things have been smoother with graduates receiving their diplomas not long after graduation.

In the University of Maroua, certificates signed by the Higher Education Minister are handed to graduates of Higher Teachers’ Training College while graduates from faculties first receive testimonials.

At the University of Dschang, diplomas are not yet delivered in the faculties or schools. Sources in the communication unit of the university say that the Director of Academic Affairs and Cooperation has been instructed to speed up the procedure to enable the deliverance of diplomas. To that effect, equipment that was acquired in February 2014 has enabled the production of certificates for most of the private higher learning institutions attached to the University of Dschang.

For the faculties, the diplomas to be issued are so many that the process demands time. However, assurances are given that the University is on the right course to start delivering diplomas to all graduates.

A similar situation prevails in the University of Yaounde II, Soa, where attestations are still the order of the day. Sources there say the issuance of diplomas by State universities is subject the homologation of training programmes by the Ministry of Higher Education.

The latter then authorises the delivery of diplomas based on the programmes submitted. To that effect, the University of Yaounde II has revised and forwarded the training programmes of its various faculties and schools for homologation. Once the latter is done by the Ministry of Higher Education, then diplomas will be awarded instead of testimonials.