INCLUSIVENESS Vis-a-Vis QUALITY IN LEGAL EDUCATION (Experiences of Government Law Colleges in Kerala)

Government Law College Thiruvananthapuram

By Manoj Krishna

As the common saying goes there are two views about a painful toothache, one that of the patient who suffers and another the perspective of the Doctor who treats. This paper contains the laments of a teacher of Government Law College who actually suffers the trauma of teaching in an institution amidst shortcomings and deficiencies and it is written with the hope that the doctors who are out there to treat the malady will take notice of it.

Inspite of a regular academic exercises of seminars, discussions and workshops on education, higher education sector in India has remained immune to radical changes in the operation of the system. Legal education is no exception to this general rule. Most of the seminars on legal education end up with suggestions regarding updating of the syllabus, issues of policy and problems of funding. In this scenario it becomes necessary to view legal education in a more realistic and pragmatic manner.

In a developing society law, legal education and development have become interrelated concepts seeking to ameleiorate the socio-economic conditions of the people by peaceful means. In this perspective legal education cannot be cut off from other branches of knowledge and any changes in legal education should be in tune with the goals of the country.

The motto of the XI^th five year plan is "Towards faster and more inclusive Growth". The objective of the plan is (1) sustainable growth (2) reduction of disparities across region and communities. The plan identifies challenges to higher education as

1.     Lower access to higher education

2.     Inter-regional and inter-group disparities in access to higher education.

3.     Inter-institutional variation in quality and excellence

4.     Need to enhance relevant education.

Challenges

This paper seeks to study the challenges which have to be addressed in the expansion of legal education sector, in tune with objective of inclusiveness with special reference to the State of Kerala in general and Government law colleges in particular.

In Kerala the majority of law colleges are either state owned or functioning directly under the university as a department. The students enrolling in Government law colleges of Trivandrum, Ernakulam, Trichur and Calicut are selected on the basis of a common entrance examination. The other institutions also admit students on the basis of entrance examinations conducted by them. Among the students who are admitted in Government owned institutions there exist significant disparity in standards and numbers among (1) rural and urban (2) inter-district (3) inter-caste (4) inter-religious and (5) poor and non-poor.

Poor and non-poor; inter-castes

In the Government College almost 50% of seats are reserved for various reservation communities including SC/ ST, OBC, OEC etc. The creamy layer among the OBC is excluded from reservation. For remaining reserved category students, the annual income is very low. Further, among the Forward community also the annual income of the student’s family is comparatively low. This can be verified from ascertaining the number of students coming from forward community availing fees concessions under the Kumaraswamy Commission Report. Thus it can be seen that more than 3/4^th of the students of a Government law college come from a poor background.

Majority of such students have their primary and secondary education in local schools in the local vernacular medium. Inability to communicate in English is an apparent drawback of such students. This inability in turn has a very negative influence on the confidence level of the student at the stage of performance. Thus it is commonly seen that the affluent students who had their education from public schools easily excel in internal assessments like the class seminar. In co-curricular activities like moot courts, mock trials, debates etc. the 'poor students' are sidelined. However the number of' poor students' are high in student political activities and many cultural activities.

Government Law College Ernakulam

Significantly low level of motivation is another conspicuous feature of students of 'poor' category. Even during the course of their study, many of them are on pursuit of a job. Even on obtaining a class four job in the Government, the vast majority of such students will give up their study and join the job. The lack of motivation in turn may be due to the perception that the profession of law is not a lucrative one or the belief that a stable job cannot be obtained on the strength of an LL.B degree.

There is wide disparity among various sections of students with regard to the goals they are to achieve in future. Most of the students in the 'poor' category are confused as to what should be done on the completion of the LL.B course. Many of them enroll as lawyers as they are unaware of any other option. Major chunk of them leave the profession at some point of time unable to cope with the heavy competition and constraints of income. Academically brilliant among the 'have not' category sometime join the post-graduate course. Students coming from affluent families on the other hand are more definite as to their goals and to the line of profession they should follow on the completion of LL.B degree course. Many among them opt for higher education in other branches of knowledge like the Management courses with the motive of obtaining an entry as junior level executive in some Corporate enterprise. A few very brilliant with necessary support from their families join as officers in Corporate banks and enterprises shortly after completing their degree. The more affluent among them are even seen pursuing post graduate degree in England and America with or without sponsorship. Students from the 'poor' category are rarely seen to be aspiring for the white-collar jobs and foreign education.

Urban-rural

Disparities existing between the students coming from urban and rural areas are also significant. Numerically students belonging to rural areas are not much less than those of urban areas. However, in the standards of education, communicative skills, confidence level and ability to use modern informational techniques the urban students are better placed than the rural. The urban students, even those coming from poor strata are exposed to many modern changes in informational technologies and means of communication. Further, constant inter-action with the affluent students which is easy in less stratified urban society enable the urban poor to be more ambitious and be aware of educational and professional openings. However, students from the rural section lacks this exposure to diverse opportunities available in the globalised world.

Majority of students from rural area have their schooling in the local vernacular medium. For the rare among them who had education in English medium the standards of such schools are very poor when compared to those of the elite public schools in the urban areas. The result is the conspicuous difference in communicative skills and comprehensive ability in English between the urban and rural students. The urban students are more motivated and ambitious than their rural counter-parts and are ready to take risks and face challenges. They readily take an assignment outside the state and are willing to work anywhere, provided the pay packet is thick and the job glamorous. Majority of the rural students are comfortable at home town and is apathetic towards displacements. They prefer a peaceful job or practice at a place near their home and are quiet content with a mediocre profession or sustainable job.

The response

The very wide disparities among the various categories of students pose a great challenge to the teachers of Government law colleges. Many of the techniques used by the teachers to solve this problem has in effect resulted in the fall of standards of legal education. Teachers dilute their lectures in content and language so that it is accessible to majority of students. Standards set for internal evaluation is also lowered so as to suit the vast majority of students whose standards are academically mediocre or even below average.

However, the teachers cannot be solely blamed for the drawbacks which are inbuilt in the system of education itself. The system of examination-oriented study and courses, constraints of time, problems of disparity among students, pressure created by very high student-teacher ratio etc. compel the teachers to adopt techniques which may be cynically claimed to be lowering standards. It is submitted that on independent and objective evaluation it can be seen that the teachers of Government law colleges are doing a commendable job in spite of several inbuilt defects existing in the system.

Government Law College Thrissur

Under the existing system, a teacher in Government law college is allotted an average of 3 subjects in three different classes for a semester. Under the existing pattern, University can conduct examinations after the completion of a minimum of 90 working days. In reality even 90 working days are not made available to a teacher in a semester as many of such working days will be ineffective due to conduct of several extra-curricular activities varying from functions of union to class campaigns of student organizations. A teacher is to conduct internal assessment of almost 250 students through internal tests, seminars and assignments within this short period. Thus the pressure of teacher in finishing his subject is very high in the law colleges.

To add oil to the flames the teachers are called upon at least four times a year for the conduct of centralized valuation camps at the University which may extend to months. Over and above this the duty of conducting and supervising the university examination of five different semesters also fall upon the teacher. All these works are done during the period of academic time. It is to be noted in this regard that the law college teachers are the only category of teachers who attend centralized valuation camps after engaging classes for a minimum of two hours during the days of camp valuation. In this working atmosphere teachers of law colleges under the governments are managing to fulfill their assigned functions under much pressure. This strain on the teachers are one important cause for the fall in standards of legal education along with other factors.

Inspite of the existing constraints of time and inherent weakness of the system, the teachers have developed their own unique methods to effectively cater to varying needs of student from divergent categories. Even though there is no uniformity in such methods adopted by different teachers some commonly used techniques are listed below.

1. Students from 'poor category' are called upon individually and their problems are discussed. The process is quiet informal. In the course of such discussion care is taken to instill confidence and to motivate them. In some cases when students complain of any form of segregation steps are taken to prevent such unhealthy trends.

2.  At the initiative of Parent Teachers Association, some financially very backward students from each classes is given financial support including payment of their fees.

3.  Lectures by experts on methods to improve mind power, techniques to improve confidence level etc. are regularly organized.

4. Many of the teachers during course of their lectures explain the scope of legal profession and avenues other than practice which is available to a law graduate.

5. Teachers provide additional help to students coming from 'poor' category in their internal assessment works like preparing for seminar and assignments. The students are encouraged to use the library and special guidance is given to them as to methods of finding out relevant material. Some teachers are magnanimous enough to lend their own books to students who are in much need of it.

In spite of all these efforts by committed teachers the legal education in Government law college is in a pathetic condition. There is no quality improvement for a student undergoing LL.B course for 3 year or 5 year. In this scenario certain steps are to be taken to revamp legal education.

Suggestions

Government Law College Kozhikode

1.      Quality of students enrolling for LL.B course should be enhanced. Incumbents should   posses   better   levels   of communicative skills, proficiency in English language and confidence. The entrance examination process should be reconstructed so as to weed out students who are not equipped with basic skills necessary for a professional of law. Along with the marks of entrance examination, parameters like skills in group discussions, proficiency in English and merit in qualifying tests all may be considered in the selection process. 

2.      The student-teacher ratio should be refixed on the basis of different pointers and parameters that are being used at present.

Teacher student ratio is presently fixed on the basis of total number of students in a college and the number of teaching staff of the college. It is submitted that with the shift over from annual system to the semester and the introduction of internal assessment system the work load of teachers have increased manifold. It may be noted in this regard that while a University Department catering from 20-25 LL.M students have not less than 5 permanent faculty, the Government law colleges catering for almost 1000 LL.B students

and 30 LL.M students have only a staff strength varying from 15-18 permanent staff.

3.     A new educational culture within the campus is the need of the hour. The teachers and students should enjoy more academic freedom.

4.      Student counselors may be appointed in law colleges to counsel students having low level of confidence. Further, the students can also be motivated with the help of such professionals. To improve standards of English, English teachers can be appointed to do remedial teaching to students coming from poor and rural backgrounds.

5.        Even though politics inside the campus has its own positive aspects, unregulated political activities are creating havoc in the colleges. It is submitted that college elections conducted on the basis of directions of Lyngdoh Committee is adequate enough to control political activities. Unfortunately, the colleges are diluting this report for their own interest. Regulation of political activities are essential for the creation of a new work atmosphere in the colleges.

6.       The greatest contribution a teacher can do to a law student is to instill in him the ability to think like a lawyer. So a teacher should try to train students to solve legal problems and thus acquaint them with the art of professional advocacy.

(Manoj Krishna is Assistant Professor in Law at Government Law College Thiruvananthapuram, University of Kerala. He is a member, Faculty of Law, Calicut University; Member, Post Graduate Board of Studies, Kerala University.)