Those found to have committed fraud at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) and sold grades should be prosecuted, says Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology Minister Don Polye.
Polye said if the internal investigation into selling of grades at the university’s transcript office found any of the staff guilty, they should not just be terminated but also prosecuted in a competent court.
My position is clear, those found to have committed fraud at the UPNG and sold grades, must not only be terminated from their jobs, but must also be prosecuted.
They must be punished by the Criminal Act, just termination from the public service is not good enough.
That’s an easy escape, you cannot go free after abusing that office.
So whatever the university’s council comes up with, it really is entirely up to them to make a decision, but, as the minister of the higher education, commonsense tells me that these people must be punished. We cannot allow such actions to go unpunished, they must pay.
It is time we hold people accountable for their actions.
Don Polye, Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology & Sports
Polye said their termination from their positions was not adequate.
He made the comments shortly after Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology Department secretary Fr Jan Czuba said the UPNG council would be meeting today to deliberate on the findings of the internal investigations into allegations of students were paying for good grades.
A copy of the report will then be given to Polye and Czuba before it is made public.
Meanwhile, the new university governance manual has a clear governance system in place.