The fourth session of the Ad Hoc Technical Commission for the Awarding of Diplomas, affiliated with the Ministry of Higher Education, was held on June 6 in Yaoundé, chaired by Wilfred Nyongbet Gabsa, the Secretary General of the Ministry.
This session highlighted a positive dynamic in the awarding of diplomas in Cameroon, with a notable increase over the last three academic years. According to the Commission’s statistics, a total of 142,756 diplomas were awarded: 44,686 in 2020-2021, 45,953 in 2021-2022, and 52,117 in 2022-2023, an increase of 15.6% over this period. This increase reflects the efforts of the Ministry of Higher Education to catch up on the backlog of diplomas and improve administrative processes in universities and higher education institutions. However, challenges remain, including the management of old files of unissued diplomas.
To address these challenges, the Commission is focusing on three main areas: the creation and management of a consolidated graduate file, the adoption of a new graphic charter to secure diplomas, and the digitalization of diploma data. These initiatives aim to modernize and secure diploma management, thus ensuring that each student receives their diploma in a timely manner. During this session, recommendations were made to update university organizational charts to align them with modern student and diploma management requirements. It was proposed to systematically publish the lists of graduates at the end of each academic year and to connect state universities and public higher education institutions under the supervision of the Ministry to a data security policy, using the archiving and digitalization of graduate lists and examination minutes.
To address the prolonged delays in the issuance of diplomas, which have often prevented graduates from enrolling in academic institutions abroad, the Commission recommended as early as September 2021 the adoption of a process of “systematic issuance” of diplomas for all students at the end of their training. This measure aims to ensure that each graduate receives their diploma without hindrance, in line with the theme of the session “One student, one diploma”.
SBBC
