The Ombudsman Commission’s investigation into an alleged delay in the reprinting of a higher school certificate for a grade 10 student in a high school in Port Moresby resulted in the reprinting of the certificate which had been delayed for five years.
A grade 10 student of a school in Port Moresby registered a complaint with the Ombudsman Commission against the Measurement Services Unit (‘MSU’) of the Department of Education for not reprinting his certificate despite so many follow-ups.
The Complainant graduated in 2018 with a high school certificate. However, his name on the certificate was not written correctly and he returned the certificate to the school and requested them to make amendments to the certificate accordingly.
He made several follow-ups with the school and the MSU from 2018 to 16 May 2022 and did not receive any response.
After may follow-ups, the Complainant then came to the Commission and registered his official complaint against MSU and the Department of Education for allegedly delaying and denying him his certificate which he was rightfully entitled to receive.
The Commission issued investigation notices to the MSU and the Department of Education respectively under Section 17(1) and 18(1) of the Organic Law on the Ombudsman Commission and commenced investigation on the complaint. During the course of the investigation, it was revealed that the MSU had printer issues which delayed the printing of certificates for many years.
On 19 July 2023, the MSU advised that the complainant’s certificate was printed and returned to his school for him to go and pick it up. On the same day the Commission called and confirmed that the complainant’s school received the certificate and it was signed by the School Principal.
The Commission then called the complainant to enquire at his school and collect his high school certificate which was delayed for five years and the Complainant went and collected it and thanked the Ombudsman Commission for assisting him.