By Spy Uganda
Kampala: Last month, Uganda’s Law Development Centre (LDC) released results for the academic year 2019/2020 with a 90 per cent failure rate.
Records at the LDC showed that a total of 1,682 law students sat for the exams, with 70 per cent partially failing with re-takes whereas 20% of the lawyers totally failed the examinations and were discontinued.
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Whereas Mr Frank Nigel Othembi, the LDC director, attributed the decline in performance mainly due to the global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and students not being subjected to pre-entry examinations, Attorney at law and motivational speaker, Mr.Denis Nyombi of Mukono based Denis Nyombi & Co.Advocates chambers, believes it is not LDC as a single entity to blame, but entire the country’s academic system needs to be revised and overhauled.
”Unless someone has just been born today, We are living in times of devoid of capability at professionalism all across. If all faculties of various disciplines subjected their applicants to pre-entry exams, most teachers, journalists, medics, even carpenters and musicians would not make it to these disciplines,” says the Redpepper lawyer.
He further notes that although LDC as an institution may have its administrative areas to improve upon, but by and large, a student fails at LDC as early as while still in A-Level due to a poor education system.
”Just like all other professions and disciplines are disturbing in terms of quality output lately, e.g. assess most journalists we have, the teachers, engineers, medics, carpenters, mechanics even tailors. Look at the quality of MPs we have. The politicians and all leaders at all levels. Look at most of the ministers we have, assess the quality of this entire team then you will have a clear judgement as to who is the student at LDC,” he adds.
Nyombi goes ahead to submit that the foreign-based and sponsored education system will never produce a professional in Uganda unless it is revised. ”Who teaches our students and where are we taught from? Who regulates our learning? Who designs and pays prefecture to the nation’s education policies?”
He adds, ”the failure rate at LDC is a loud indicator that a robust assessment was required as early as yesterday, to comprehensively better out entire education system for more quality output. Verily, I say unto you, at all stages from lower level to LDC and all other disciplines, the quality of our education system is so wanting so full of mediocrity and as such outs the very nature of products like itself.”
