Students must pay all debts before certificates are issued – UG reiterates

Issuance of certificates

In light of public outrage from students about the delay in issuance of their certificates, the University of Guyana has once again emphasised that all debts must be cleared before this document could be issued.
In a release on Thursday, the tertiary institution reported that if a graduate was not indebted to the institution, then clearance was automated via the Students Records Management System (SMRS). Thereafter, certificates can be generated for release.

“In order for a certificate to be issued, clearance must be made with the Faculty, Bursary and Library; graduation fees must be paid and reading room tickets and graduation gowns returned, if issued,” the release indicated.
According to the statement, there are also other ways for the University to provide graduates with proof of their competed studies – for example through the issuance of Transcripts and Letters of Completion.
“UG in October 2020 broke with its 57-year-old tradition of handing certificates directly to graduates upon clearance and began mailing certificates by registered mail. However, graduates must request this service and verify their mailing addresses in the SRMS before this can be triggered,” the statement read.
The University is advising all graduates who require their documents now to use the avenues made available to them and to allow 10 to 15 working days for processing.
“A student who has successfully satisfied the requirements for a programme of study is certified and therefore deemed a graduate of the University of Guyana. Collection of certificates, on the other hand, refers to the issuance of the official document that proves that one is graduate of the University.”
Earlier this week, scores of students of UG took to social media demanding that the University provide them with their academic certificates that they were supposed to receive over a year ago.
In one instance, a student expressed: “After four years of UG, we don’t expect to be running behind UG for what we worked hard for.”
Another said: “I have been calling UG since in February after I found out certificates For Health Science and Technology were available. They said SEBI and Social Science certificate would be [avail]able in March month, early April and sadly COVID-19 and election happened. We have been reaching out to UoG during the pandemic and they keep telling us it is not available. Some of us requested for our transcripts; some of us received it via email and it was unsigned and some never received it at all.”
According to the students, after graduating in September of the 2019-2020 academic year, they received an email with the option to have their certificates mailed to them via registered mail. However, since then, they have not received their certification.
On Tuesday, when <<<Guyana Times>>> reached out to UG Vice Chancellor, Dr Paloma Mohamed-Martin, she said based on the University’s ordinance, the Registry could only send off certificates for graduates who consented to the option of registered mail and were not indebted to the University.
She said based on the Registry’s report, UG’s Berbice Campus (UGBC) graduated 216 students in the class of 2019. At the time, the mailing list was generated, a mere 67 consented to have their certificates mailed to them.
There are more graduates who have not indicated anything, then there are those who declined to use this option. Of that number (67), only 36 were fully cleared. She said that the Registry’s report revealed that this trend continues at the Turkeyen Campus, Greater Georgetown. Of 1903 graduates at that campus, only 173 consented to their certificates being dispatched via registered mail.