The National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has urged Ghanaian youth desirous of becoming lawyers, not to lose hope in the face of an ‘unfair, unjust and improper’ professional legal education system.
Mr Sammy Gyamfi is optimistic that should Former President John Mahama return to power, there will be a complete overhaul of the system in order to expand access to legal education in Ghana.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, he said the entrance examination system run by the Ghana School of Law (GSL) is deliberately designed to deprive the nation of adequate lawyers.
“You cannot assess the intelligence of LLB graduates with just one entrance examination. You put together 10 substantive law courses: contract law, criminal law etc. You set a few objectives, one or two essay questions, a student is not able to make 50 and you say the student has failed. That for me is not a fair way of assessing the competence or intelligence of students.”
“I think that once people get the LLB, they should be able to apply to pursue the professional law course in an accredited law institution. I’m telling all young people who are desirous of becoming lawyers that if President Mahama becomes President of Ghana, what is happening today will be a thing of the past,” he said.
The NDC Communications Officer’s comments come at the back of yet another mass failure of students who sat for the Ghana School of Law 2021 Entrance Examinations.
Of the 2,824 LLB candidates who sat for the exams, only 790 passed; representing approximately 28%. The remaining 72% were thus denied entry to the Law School.
Mr Gyamfi, who is a former SRC President of GSL insists that, ‘you can’t assess the intelligence of LLB graduates with one entrance exam.’
According to him, the future Mahama government will break the monopoly enjoyed by the GSL for a more liberal system.
The NDC in its 2020 People’s Manifesto postulated a vigorous reform and expanding access to professional legal education, and provided opportunities to all qualified LLB holders by granting accreditation to certified law
faculties to undertake the professional law qualification course.
It also proposed, a review of the Legal Profession Act in consultation with stakeholders, and establishment of a Council for legal education and training. This body will accredit certified law faculties to run the Professional Law Course subject to the oversight supervision of the Council.
The building of a faculty of law in the Northern Region to serve the northern sector of the country was also proposed.
Mr Sammy Gyamfi is confident of the NDC returning to power in 2024 to give meaning to what he regards as a true legal education reforms.
Source: myjoyonline.com