Being a dive "newbie" myself I would not have wanted to be diving with only one other new and inexperienced diver for my first several dives after the OW check out dives. Two newbie divers + a problem can certainly lead to a panic situation for both, which may be what led to this accident.
If I were to have a problem I really wanted a dive buddy with enough experience to have the ability and skill level help me. I have had the good fortune now to have 15 dives with experienced divers. It has really helped my confidence and diving skills. Although I still have much to learn and skills to improve, I think I am now at least competent to be in the water with another inexperienced diver as a dive buddy.
We have to remember that every new diver is different in their comfort/skill level. No matter who the instructor is, some new divers are more comfortable than others. When I got my Open water certification, I was 15 yo, but I had already been snorkelling for 5+ years. I was just as comfortable in the water as out of the water. There are some times where I think that it should be up to the instructor at the end of a course, if someone still seems uncomfortable, to take them aside and suggest that they do their first dives as newly certified divers with the club that they have done their certification with. (Or other more experienced divers)
I am just saying that there are some certified divers who should not be diving with divers who possess the same/less than the experience as them.
I was on a dive boat last weekend in Tobermory, ON. The two divers next to me, I was chatting with them about their experience. He was a newly certified diver and his girlfriend/dive buddy had been diving a few years, but had not been in the water in 2 years. The first dive was a wreck (Niagara II), (55-100ft), very cold water (39 at 100 ft). This other couple was the first back on the boat. I was talking to them after, asking how much air they came up with. I had come up with 1000psi. The boyfriend said "I was pretty well empty"
I was by no means the most experienced diver on the boat, but no one else seemed to be paying any attention to what others were doing. I would hope that if I were the newb, others would be paying some attention to my safety.
This may be a little off topic, but I think is relevant.