MINISTER of Justice Given Lubinda is upset with the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education (ZIALE) council for its alleged failure to adhere to his directives regarding the continued poor student pass rate at the institution.
Mr Lubinda has since summoned the ZIALE council to meet him today and explain the problems it has because he suspects there is something “terribly wrong” at the law school.
He said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that Zambia cannot afford to see such poor performance by students at ZIALE.
“This low pass rate does not only reflect the poor performance of the students but also the lecturers and the institution at large,” he said.
The minister said in October last year, he directed the ZIALE council to give him strategies on how it hoped to improve the student pass rate but that nothing has been done to date.
“I don’t think there is any lecturer at ZIALE who should be feeling proud today that their mid-year examination student pass rate is only two percent,” he said.
This is in view of the results in which out of over 300 students who sat for the 2017 mid-year examinations, only seven cleared the 10 courses, representing a two percent pass rate.
Mr Lubinda said this is unacceptable because this poor pass rate does not impress him in any way.
The minister said he is upset and feels let down by the fact that despite his directive in October to give strategies to improve the pass rate, the council has allegedly not done so.
“The two percent pass rate is unacceptable because even if they are mid-year exam results, the exam is meant to assess the performance of students, lecturers and the institution itself,” he said.
Among the issues Mr Lubinda will discuss with the council are reports that some students are allegedly favoured.
The low pass rate in the mid-year examination comes barely a few months after Government expressed concern about a situation where only 16 out of 238 students qualified in 2016.
A check at ZIALE yesterday found the results and names of students who had sat for the legal practitioners’ mid-year examinations stuck on the notice board.
The list showed that out of 332 students who wrote the 10 courses, majority failed to clear all.
Recently, Mr Lubinda said Government would take measures to improve the pass rate at ZIALE to ensure that the country has sufficient lawyers to meet the growing litigation demand.
But when contacted for a comment, ZIALE director Ann Malata-Ononuju said the mid-year examination results do not necessarily reflect the outcome of those who sat for the final examinations.
Ms Malata-Ononuju said she is confident that the students will work harder and do better in the final examinations.
“Our analysis of the results shows that most students only failed in one course, meaning they can catch up and do better in the final examinations,” she said.
Ms Malata-Ononuju said the students who failed to pass all the 10 courses will be motivated to study harder.
“I already saw some studying in groups and they need to be encouraged to do better,” she said.
Leave ZIALI alone, summon ConCourt, Chief Justice and many judges for the poor performance and compromised judiciary. Too much graft in Zambia’s Judiciary.
bla bla bla bla…………….
Quality not quantity ba Minishta. The brilliant Lawyers like Keith Mweemba are products of the strict adherence to quality. You want cadres to be accepted to the Bar?
Same lectures, same amount of time in class, produce brilliant Keith Mweemba and on the other side state counsels.
He has a point. Incomprehensible that, that percentage are allowed to pass.
Either the exams are way unrealistic or the lecturers are lemons.
I have a PhD
Thanks
BB2014,2016
Blast them and blast the illegal Minister of Higher education Professor Luo for not taking up the matter by arranging some training when you first identified the problem as Legal Minister. Minister of H. Education (illegal) is also found wanting here. They are cockroaches and mosquitoes.
Given Lubinda is a diploma holder from NRDC, he least understands issues about law and lawyer training….but that is the calibre of Edgar Lungu’s cabinet. They are all unqualified.
@Mushota I’m sure you gave your lecturers ka something to make you pass! Or you “Nicked” the lecturer and married him!
MB contrary,
I have always been a bright student all my life.
I have seen a few troubled souls who have tried to judge me (including yourself) based on a few spelling messing and they have nothing to ass to the cause.
I do not want to show off, but I am a genius and I am saying that mildly. I hope this doesn’t come out as being obnoxious and or narcissists as you wrongly claim.
They dont sell PhD’s on the market and I happen to have one
Thanks
BB2014,2016
TOO MUCH COPYING AND PASTING BY STUDENTS SHOULDN’T BE ENCOURAGED. WE NEED VERY HIGH STANDARDS AND QUALITY IN EDUCATION IN ZAMBIA THE WAY IT USED TO BE MU KK REGIME IMMEDIATELY AFTER INDEPENDENCE. THE STANDARDS AND QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN ZAMBIA STARTED BEING COMPROMISED IN THE 1980S WHEN THE GOVERNMENT INSTITUTION STARTED BEING CORRUPT AND WITH NO EXPANSION IN ALL LEVELS OF ACADEMIC SYSTEMS. HENCE, THE MUSHROOMING OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS WHICH WERE IN THE FIRST PLACE PHYSICALLY RAMSHUCKLES WITH MASSIVELY UNQUALIFIED TEACHERS, NO OR VERY POOR FACILITIES THAT STARTED TO MASSIVELY PRODUCE DUNDERHEAD GRADUATES. PLEASE, DO NOT COMPROMISE QUALITY AND STANDARDS IN EDUCATION SYSTEMS. LET ZIALE DO THEIR JOB OF UPHOLDING QUALITY AND HIGH ACADEMIC STANDARDS. STUDENTS MUST LEARN TO READ BOOKS WIDELY. NOT…
…UPHOLDING QUALITY AND HIGH ACADEMIC STANDARDS. STUDENTS MUST LEARN TO READ BOOKS WIDELY. NOT COPYING AND PASTING AS IS HAPPENING IN THE INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING OF LATE.
@1.7 there are a lot of people here who are far more intelligent and we can tell by how they debate arguments from both sides of the spectrum. When I read your blogs I don’t learn anything from them, just hatred. I also have a PhD and so does my husband. We live in U.K. and are both proud Zambians
Keith Mweemba the murderer who shot his security guard? And his brilliant?
@unip long dead why expose your scant knowledge in public? Keith mweemba and Keith Mukata are two separate individuals.
Ba Minishta, instead of blabbing on the issue which is (notwithstanding your position) foreign subject to you, PLEASE:
1. Comply with the Ruling of the Constitutional Court, whose Judgement is FINAL and return tax-payers money which you and your fellow minister have illegally misappropriated and
2. RESIGN on the MORAL (if you have any left) grounds.
The moment when Edgar C. Lungu stole from the cliant is the moment ZIALE started focusing on quality not quantity. People like Kelvin Fube Bwalya, Mr. Nicholas Chanda( Nicholas Chanda& Associates), Mr. Cheelo Mwiinga( Mark& Partners) and Mr.Luo (Palan & George) are the other reason.
ECL passed at 1st attempt….ke ke ke Jack Miwiimbu and Marthat Mushipe are repeaters ke ke ke
Cream always rises. The best will come to the top. Minister you want to reward mediocrity. The law is the law and the givernment respects the rule of law as so often quoted by parliamentarians. The law at ziale is that you have to achieve a specified level of achievement to pass. That is the law of examinations. Will mediocre lawyers benefit zambia.
Just two days ago the justice minister made a statement showing his lack of understanding of the law by saying no innocent person had been arrested under the tsoe. Wrong, all pipo arrested are innocent to pfoven guilty in a court of law.is the minister a product of ziale.
Ba Hon Lubinda well observed and just to add further on the same- please change the legal system in Zambia- we need a legal system that anyone should be able to understand even in vernacular.The use of latin is becoming obsolete even in the UK why do we in Zambia then continue to use silly legal terminologies such as nolle prosequi, sine die etc We need a legal system that is user friendly whereby anyone with a basic eduction can defend themselves in court- that is empowerment! Lawyers have given themselves a bad reputation in Zambia for being money hungry!The reason we have overcrowded cells is because of uncaring judges and practising lawyers who have failed to address issues to do with overcrowdiness and outdated laws. The penal code needs revision as sentences for minor crimes are too…
You want legal system to be understood by you and your fellow 1mbeciles?
Ctn…The penal code needs revision as sentences for minor crimes are too harsh and lead to unnescessary overcrowdiness of the cells. Change the system Sir this is your chance to do something for mother Zambia, the Late Great MCS wanted to see a change in the legal system- he too saw that we as Zambians have been let down by the legal community!
@ flea for 1mbeciles and dunderheads like your uncle Human Hyena (HH) who engaged over 10 lawyers but is still enjoying the hospitality of Mukubeko!
You dunderheads can’t even appeal to the state to have HH at least put under house arrest??? It appears you are his worst enemy! While you enjoy your time writing nonsense on the internet your tribal lord’s masusu remains a host for 12 separate species of lice! Shame on you arse flea.. hopeless cretin! Ati kikikikiki…
Hahahaha, very soon he will be asking for computer coding language to be in Tumbuka, what a whimp!
@maimai actually I was thinking ila transaltion..ati kikikikiki…
Cartel! How can any sensible Lecturer be proud of such low pass rates? If quality is what comes out of ZIALE, then our Constitution and Judicial system should not have been in the mess it is in. The builders are refusing stones that should have become the pillars of Justice on this country! Sad!
Thanks Hon Lubinda, this could motivate UPNDonkeys running mate, shadow minister of finance Nervous, and potential second vice president Kambwili to seek genuine degrees…….kikikikikikikiki. Underfive needs genuine advice and strategic direction. As it is he has failed to appoint an acting president.
Or motivate us to steal client money
Surely some one junior can deal with this. Meanwhile mwana wesu 2nd born has been accepted to study law at university of Kent United kingdom. I will pay because education under pf is a joke
Uni of Kent in Matero???? Ati kikikikiki…
Ukose. Jealousy will kill you my friend. Take that anger out against the party you voted for. Sad thing is you not even in Zambia kikiki
Its a cartel, I say!
The only way to keep their legal fees and salaries up is to keep supplier (qualified lawyer) numbers low.
You cant have people who cleared intense institutions like UNZA – even hold phds – failing to clear courses which are all about proper procedure, writing and mere decorum.
It is cartel which awarded Kabimba with title of State Council?
Looks like UNZA graduates do better. The big numbers in failures are from Private Institution.
it’s true… This pull him down mentality really exists a lot in these higher institutions of learning coz lectures don’t want their student to reach their level…. it does not make sense for an institution to be getting a 2% pass rate…
If people are passing let them pass and graduate. The serving lawyers will not always be there. It cannot be true that the pass rate can be only 2%.Education is difficult to attain nowadays and fees are exorbitant. Don’t make people fail just to prevent the legal fraternity to be saturated
Let them introduce aptitude test during enrollment and they should stop over enrolling. Otherwise the system is ok and please ba PF don’t bring your low standards at ziale, some students are below par and some universities are just interested in money and not the standard of education hence enrolling every Jim and Jack with money.
Bwana Minister, you are right to summon them, afterall you prayed in the office when you took up the appointment.
Who does not know that ZIALE and its cartel lawyers always look at not saturating the legal sector?? Thats why each year they make sure only less than 10 layers are admitted to the bar. They are selfish people who want only their firms to tick so they cant allow other law firms spinning up. Shame on these people. Please Minister tell them off.
Even before the new Universities ZIALE was the same
One out of 3 graduates is likely to perform below standard but one out of 6 diploma holders is likely to perform below standard. The reason is that pressure to cheat increases exponentially with educational level. First, passing an examination is not an end in itself. Always remember, it is unethical and corrupt to pass students that have failed the exam. Second, failing an exam is not a death sentence because various options can be applied. These include improved exam paper, improved teaching, improved learning, improved syllabus, improvement teaching/learning materials, and improved teaching/learning equipment. The way forward is to hire QA consultants to undertake a comprehensive study of the causes, consequences and solutions to poor performance at ZIALE and all learning institutions…
Its not only ZIALE, CIMA has become very rare in Africa and across the world because of quality pursuit.
Check how many students qualified in CIMA last year or this year. The Minister is right though, people spend time and money. Its very retrogressive to have 7/300 pass rate. If Nurses and Teachers had such pass rates then you would not have anyone to teach or look after patients in Hospitals.
Why do we always want to show that some professions are more important than others.
Institutions should be running autonomously minus intervention from politicians.The council at ZIALE should make their own introspection about the way the school is run minus being cohersed by the minister.Most of these institutions have deviated from better corporate governance because of working under duress from politicians.Look at Zesco,Napsa and ZRA.The boards of these institutions are just on paper.They are not run independently.There is a hidden hand of a politician in the way they execute their functions.It is against the norms of corporate governance and institutional ethics for politicians to be intervening in the running of institutions.
Standards have fallen everywhere, not only ZIALE. But at the same time, it has always been a ‘tradition’ to pass only a few lawyers at a time. Law societies or the legal professions have always been closed entities, elitist, protectionist and greedy, might I add. The argument has always been that the system aims at ensuring that only ‘quality’ is admitted to the profession. We know, though, that a major part of the issue is people’ pulling the ladder up with them’ after they have managed to get to the top.
The rot is at the law school, not ZIALE.
It’s now a habit for students to get to have their assignments done by ‘academic mercenaries’ and the law student pays heavily for the rot when ZIALE comes calling.
NO FAULT OF ZIALE.
Imagine if the pass rate was high and its implication on how many qualified lawyers would have been on the market. Wouldn’t the legal fees have gone done? You may say I am a dreamer but I am not the only one. I hope one day Ziale’s results will be high and will impact positively on the legal fees.
Its sad many of us feel the law should only be understood by lawyers. How are we exepected to follow something we dont understand. There is a deliberate effort to keep the lawyer population small and thereby making law lucrative to the few that qualify. There is a big difference between passing exams and being a principled lawyer or judge, Most of us have repeatedly condemned the conduct of the same brilliant brains from Ziale. If there is a quota system let us know because whatever you say its ridiculous in any education system, even at PhD level, to have 2% pass rate. In education we say the horizonta line is the students performance in the listed subjects but the vertical line is the lecturers perfomance in the indivual subject.
By the way who should be more strictly trained a Lawyer or a medical Doctor? why do we have a higher passrate for medical Doctors then? Come on lets be real even ACCA has become realistic and people pass higher than this.
“The low pass rate in the mid-year examination comes barely a few months after Government expressed concern about a situation where only 16 out of 238 students qualified in 2016.”
It means there is something seriously wrong with the entire system at ZIALE. Its only in Zambia where lecturers stage unwarranted competition with students. Students a meant to be helped, guided and developed into quality lawyers. We want them to graduate in large numbers and export the excess of them. Let them go, society itself will align them.
If I had such powers I would close the institution, set up a commission of inquiry to ascertain the cause of such an anomaly.