Law school mass failure: Interviews could have granted students a second chance – GBA

President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Anthony Forson Jr. has “lashed out” at parliament for scrapping interview sessions for applicants as part of requirements for entry into the Ghana School of Law, an initiative which according to him, would have guaranteed students a second chance into the institution.

He said parliament’s decision to abolish interview sessions during the admission process into law school is a deprivation for these students especially because this could have been the only option for these LLB students who fail the entrance examination.

The requirement for admission into the Ghana School of Law since 2012 has been to apply, sit for an entrance examination and subsequently an interview before qualified candidates are admitted.

The Supreme Court in 2017, however, battled the examination and interview for admission scheme on the basis of illegality, a decision which later necessitated an agreement between the General Legal Council and Parliament to totally abolish the interview session in February 2018.

Meanwhile, the GBA President in a meeting with NDC officials in Accra responded to Inusah Fuseini, who partly blamed the law student’s mass failure on the removal of interview sessions as part of requirements for admission.

Reacting to the Tamale Central MP’s comments he said; “when we were passing LI2355, you were there. Parliament told us that we should take out the interviews. At least if the interviews had been left, many more people would have had a certain opportunity to go through the process and get enrolment. Parliament said if we don’t take out the interview, they won’t pass the law. Before God and man, if you will be honest, Inusah. That’s what you told us. If you deny, the law will speak for itself. It is not the fault of the GLC that there’s a restriction.”

Law school mass failure

Law students in the country Monday embarked on a protest march to the Jubilee House to demand reforms in legal education in the country that would enable more students to sit for the Bar examination and become lawyers without any hindrance or inhibition.

Out of the over 1,800 students who sat for the examination, only 128 passed, representing seven percent (7%) of the total number of candidates.