Mr Lubinda said he is consulting stakeholders to reverse the continued poor pass rate at the law school where only 16 out of 238 students qualified in 2016.
Mr Lubinda last week summoned the ZIALE council to meet him and explain the problems it has as he suspected there was something “terribly wrong” at the law school.
This was after only two percent of the students passed mid-year exams.
Mr Lubinda said in an interview on Tuesday that he had a successful meeting with members of the ZIALE council, and has now embarked on consultations to find a remedy for the poor pass rate at the law school.
“I am getting towards the end of my consultations, and as soon as I am done, I will be announcing to the nation the process going forward.
“It is our hope that ZIALE starts to record a higher pass rate without necessarily compromising the quality of lawyers,” he said.
Mr Lubinda said he has received numerous complaints and submissions over the poor pass rate at ZIALE, among them proliferation of universities offering sub-standard lectures for law students.
He also confirmed having received a submission that the low pass rate at ZIALE is because of a deliberate ploy by some people who allegedly want to restrict the number of lawyers who successfully graduate and join the industry.
“I have received numerous complaints such as proliferation of private universities and that the quality of lecturing in those universities is not up to scratch,” Mr Lubinda said.
He said Government will keep a close eye on the pass rate at ZIALE because “we do not want to have quacks practising law”.
We will end up with Kabimba like lawyers soon pa Zambia. But again this is good move, at least people can choose a lawyer who can work on their cases at lower rates. Flood the market with lawyers and get cheap lawyers. Lawyers are way too expensive in Zed.
The private university complements the public university. The private university arrived later than the public university in the country. Therefore, the vast majority of lecturers in both private university and public university are graduates of public university. To that extent, teaching at private university is at par with teaching public university. Recommendations need to consider broadening the internship curriculum (including more diners) and extending period of internship. In addition, the LLB could be transformed into a preserve of the graduates holding a good first degree. Failing an exam raises questions and passing an exam also needs to raise questions. It is to a large extent a question of resources, i.e., human resources and non-human resources, including salaries, equipment,…
University Teaching has also come under the scrutiny. The pedagogy as art and science is different from acquisition of knowledge in many respects. There is need to spend more time on learning how to teach at the university. The needs of future legal practitioners are different from the needs of nonlegal practitioners. In this regard, ICT applications becomes critical. The use of Power Point and the use of audio recordings must be employed in order to recreate a simulation of the real situations.
Learners need to study diligently. Attendance of lessons is necessary for a learner to respond correctly during exams. Handing in original assignments in a timely manner is also important. Some learners do not necessarily write their assignments in person. The rules of good essay writing or report writing are also very often neglected. Issues of intellectual property, including plagiarism are not always and consistently taken seriously.
It will be good for Hon Lubinda to get his Law practising licence @ ZIALE after completing his 4-year Law in 2020. Way to go. Education is a way ,he is preparing for his future.
ZIALE HAS BEEN A PROBLEM EVER SINCE IT WAS CREATED. THE PROBLEM WE HAVE THRE IS NOT THE PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES PRODUCTS BUT THE MENTALITY OF THOSE LAWYERS AT ZIALE. WAY BEFORE THE CREATION OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES PEOPLE HAVE BEEN FAILING AT ZIALE.