LDC cautioned against admitting many students
Dr Specioza Wandera Kazibwe was among those who graduated at LDC in Kampalaon Friday. Photo | Jessica Sabano
What you need to know:
- Mr Othembi said the number of learners joining the course has increased drastically since the suspension of the pre-entry examinations in 2018 with legislators arguing that it would give a chance to more students to train in legal practice.
The Attorney General, Mr Kiryowa Kiwanuka, has asked the management of the Law Development Center (LDC) to enrol a smaller number of postgraduate bar course students who can be effectively trained with the existing resources.
Speaking at the institution’s 50th Graduation Ceremony in Kampala last Friday, Mr Kiwanuka said enrolling a big number of students will result in them not having a meaningful engagement with the professional advisers, hence not acquiring the needed quality of legal training.
“Admitting a high number is being unfair because it will cause a big strain on the institution’s limited resources and human resources leading to poor performance,” Mr Kiwanuka said.
This followed a concern raised by the director of LDC, Mr Frank Nigel Othembi, who said their resources are not enough to manage the high number of students.
Mr Othembi said the number of learners joining the course has increased drastically since the suspension of the pre-entry examinations in 2018 with legislators arguing that it would give a chance to more students to train in legal practice.
He said the institution generates about Shs14b from students every year but the same ends up at Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).
He urged the government to fund legal education.
Statistics obtained from LDC shows that prior to the scrapping of the pre-entry exams, they were admitting about 500 students but after the requirement was scrapped, they are now enrolling more than 2,000 students.
In 2019, then Justice minister Kahinda Otafiire said it was not necessary to force those joining LDC to sit pre-entry exams since all the 12 universities teaching the law course are accredited by the Law Council.
The pre-entry exams had been prompted by the high failure rate of students at LDC, triggering suspicion that universities were churning out half-baked law graduates who needed another layer of sieving.
Justice minister Nobert Mao urged the graduates to be ready to serve and not to underestimate the peasants.
Among the graduates was the former Vice president, Dr Specioza Kazibwe.
GRADUATION
During the graduation ceremony, a total of 1,020 students graduated in different disciplines with 800 being awarded the post graduate diplomas in legal practice, and 220 being awarded an ordinary diploma in human rights and diploma in law.
LDC is the only institution in the country that teaches the post graduate diploma in legal practice. Without this certificate, a law graduate cannot be allowed to represent a client in court.
