Member of Parliament for South Dayi and a Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Rockson-Nelson Etse Kwami Dafeamekpor, has indicated that there is a disconnect between the mode of teaching the law and the bar exams of the Ghana School of Law.
Mr. Dafeamekpor pointed out that in the previous years, lecturers in the Ghana School of Law were examiners for the bar exams, and that the lecturers knew the strengths and weaknesses of the law students.
The Member of Parliament who doubles as a practicing lawyer stated that the modalities and the structure in examining the Ghana School of Law students should be revisited, to mitigate the massive failures in law schools.
Speaking to ghanajustice.com in an interview in Parliament, Mr. Dafeamekpor reiterated that admission to the Ghana School of Law is highly competitive and difficult and that a student must be above average, to get the opportunity to be admitted to the law school.
“Anyone who gets the opportunity to enter into the Ghana Law School is academically good and above average. If you are not a good student, you cannot read the law. You have to be above average. Also, to enter into the law school and do well, one must be of a high standard and, I think the law students there are good. The problem is the mode of examination”, he averred.
Mr. Dafeamekpor explained that there should be a holistic review of the Ghana School of Law system, and finding out the problems that are causing massive failure by students.
The examination results of the law school
The latest results released by the Independent Examinations Committee of the General Legal Council Professional Law Course Examination (Bar Exams) on February 19, 2019 made shocking revelations of massive failure of students.
According to the results, only 64 students, representing 12.1 percent of the 525 who sat for the examinations, passed.
The examination results indicated that the law students failed mostly in Family Law, Evidence and Advocacy.
The other papers included Criminal Procedure, Civil Procedure, Company and Commercial Practice, Law Practice Management, Legal Accountancy, Evidence and Interpretation, as well as Conveyancing and Drafting.
Per the rules of the law school, students who are referred in one or two courses will have to take a resit.
However, students who fail in, at least three papers, will have to start the entire two-year course again.
Critics of the entrance exams say the mass failure at the Bar exams is just one example of why the status quota must be abolished.
Petition to Parliament by law students
The Students Representative Council (SRC) and some students of the Ghana School of Law, have petitioned the leadership of Parliament on the issue of mass failure in the school’s examination.
The group of students were escorted by the Ghana Police Service to the premises of Parliament but were subsequently denied access into the Chamber block.
The petition of the students was presented to the Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu.
Students’ reaction
A student of the Ghana School of Law, who wants his identity to remain anonymous, explained that the students are demanding a total reform in the structure of the law school.
He explained that the reform the students seek to demand covers entrance exams into the law school, examinations in the law school and the cancellation of the Independent Examinations Committee of the General Legal Council.
He averred that the bottlenecks in the entrance into the law school are disturbing, and that if limited space is causing the bottlenecks, the professional course should be run in the various faculties.
He hinted that the student body has been scheduled to meet the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on Thursday, March 7, 2019 for deliberations.
He again disclosed that the student body will go to the Presidency on Monday, March 11, 2019 for extensive discussions on the matter.
Source: GhanaJustice/S.Ayisi
