Yesterday I just sketched the facts relating to the place where I am teaching. I didnt leave any remedies, because I dont have any panacae for this state of affairs. I am aware as any one else who is genuinely interested in bettering the state of affairs that it won't be possible for any single person with a majic wand to change the state of affairs in a day. I am fully aware that it will take at least a full academic year to at least move things in the right direction. Within the short span of 6 months, I think that we were able to take at least some priliminary steps towards this goal.
As mentioned in my previous post, we have been blessed with the whole hearted co operation of the teachers in improving the situation. One of our teachers have successfully conducted at least 3 seminars which got great attention of the students. Next semester onwards a compulsory seminar class is proposed for all classes. We are also proposing to conduct an international Seminar in Banking Law, so that students can get a feel of what is evolving in these fields.
While trying to work out a mutually profitable solution, there is one aspect which is worth noting. One of my collegue who had been a teacher for last 14 years had commented that ever since Kerala Government started conducting entrance examination for admission to 3 year LLB course the quality of students deteriorated significantly! Common entrance examination was intended to find out students with the right attitude and aptitude so that they undergo the 3 or 5 year course with the right set of mind. I am also not ignoring the fact that the Common Entrance Test for 5 year LLB courses have helped to identify some students with right potential, the experience with 3 year LLB course is entirely different.
For the readers from other countries, India has three (or four or more) types of LLB courses. While there is an integrated BA LLB(Hons) in National Law Schools, other law colleges follow a 3 year LLB in 10+2+3+3 model and 5 year LLB in 10+2+5 model of higher education. Some universities even now call the law degree as BL (Bachelor of Law)while most others have renamed the degree as LLB(LLegum Baccilareum). Some IIT's have recently started MBA LLB and B Tech LLB, which as the name suggests integrates Master of Business Studies and Bachelor of Technology(Engineering Degree) with Law.
Now going back to the old story- what ails the 3 year course? To understand this we need to first understand the age factor of the students undergoing 3 year LLB course as compared to those undergoing 5 year course. While most of the students who had been undergoing 5 year LLB course are of the age group 17-21, the age of a student undergoing 3 year LLB course earlier used to vary from 21 to 61 or even greater! But now a days, you seldom find an aged person in the LLB course as compared to those good old days!
Now what is the problem? As I see it, we need to distinguish 3 year LLB course as a finishing course compared to 5 year LLB course as a professional course. Earlier many elder persons who were genuinely interested in pursuing Law used to joing LLB course. Now since many do not want to go throught the ignomity of writing an entrance examination along with their children, such persons have stopped coming to study law, even though they have a genuine interest in the subject. As a result the number of students appearing for entrance examination is very low and inorder to fill the available seats, it is said that even those who get 0 marks in entrance examination are given admission! Now how can you expect those 0 marks students to have the right aptitude?
When I joined teaching, I had in mind the standard of students who had interacted with me during my college days and professional days. During the past 6 months I have tried to make my students speak up.! To my astonishment I have found that many of the 3 year course students are unable to properly express their thoughts even in their mother tongue.A hand full of answer papers valued were so pathetic that even Samuel Johnson would wonder about the language!!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
An Introduction to Law Teaching..a law teacher looking back
Taking into law teaching has been an interesting turn in my life. While I was a Legal Manager, I always thought teaching was more an academic exercise rather than a managerial exercise. But now I can vouch that teaching is more a managerial experience than anything else.
The foremost subjects to your management skill is ofcourse students- though you have to manage your time, resources and mind equally well. While so far I have been blessed with exemplary collegues, who are willing to take any effort, the lack of resources have been a bane for these spirited teacher collegues of mine.
Students come from different sections of the society, have different temperements and different outlook towards their future and every aspect in life. While as a manager, you may often be blessed with an almost homogenous group, with somewhat similar temperements and outlook to life(if you happen to build a legal department, then this almost can be taken away!) in a law school, you get students as hetrogenous as anyone can imagine.
Traditionally a government law college in India looks like a government hospital except in one count- in law college, you see empty or almost empty class rooms where as in a government hospital you cant even imagine one empty bed!. One can even say it looks like a government poundry these days...ugly and smelly class rooms, scarce commodity called students,political hue and cry and frequent quarrels among inmates! A collegue had remarked once that the biggest skill a teacher acquires from a law college is the skill to take class to a switch board!
My grandfather who had his legal education in 1920's remembers a time when many students used to attend classes. I have seen National Law Schools where a majority of students attend classes. While I have felt that the quality of teachers is almost same every where(ofcourse there is a difference in outlook towards education) what is lacking is perhaps a motivation among students to attend classes.
Prof Madhava Menon, who headed a committee for legal education reform in Kerala while interacting with students of government law college is said to have remarked is that the reason for non attendance is the low fees that is being collected from the students,and once the fees is hiked to Rs 50000/- students will not dare to bun classes. I strongly disagree with this proposition, since fees does not have any bearing on the attitude of students. I can visualise a student, and I have seen many behaving in this fashion- who thinks it is the duty of his parents to bear the cost of his education and his duty to enjoy his life! Now if his father is paying Rs 50000/- or Rs 100,000/- what difference does it make to him?
But then what is that which tends to keep students away from class? One obvious reason is lack of motivation. Every one here knows that even if you dont attend the class you can pass. Every one here knows that leaders of politcal outfits doesnt attend even a single class and still they sit for examination after obtaining duty certificates for drama competitions, and even for food committees for university youth festival. Every one here knows that even if you dont study, you can get away in the examinations since examiners are afraid of student power. Now what is then your motivation to study?
The question is how can we clean up?
The foremost subjects to your management skill is ofcourse students- though you have to manage your time, resources and mind equally well. While so far I have been blessed with exemplary collegues, who are willing to take any effort, the lack of resources have been a bane for these spirited teacher collegues of mine.
Students come from different sections of the society, have different temperements and different outlook towards their future and every aspect in life. While as a manager, you may often be blessed with an almost homogenous group, with somewhat similar temperements and outlook to life(if you happen to build a legal department, then this almost can be taken away!) in a law school, you get students as hetrogenous as anyone can imagine.
Traditionally a government law college in India looks like a government hospital except in one count- in law college, you see empty or almost empty class rooms where as in a government hospital you cant even imagine one empty bed!. One can even say it looks like a government poundry these days...ugly and smelly class rooms, scarce commodity called students,political hue and cry and frequent quarrels among inmates! A collegue had remarked once that the biggest skill a teacher acquires from a law college is the skill to take class to a switch board!
My grandfather who had his legal education in 1920's remembers a time when many students used to attend classes. I have seen National Law Schools where a majority of students attend classes. While I have felt that the quality of teachers is almost same every where(ofcourse there is a difference in outlook towards education) what is lacking is perhaps a motivation among students to attend classes.
Prof Madhava Menon, who headed a committee for legal education reform in Kerala while interacting with students of government law college is said to have remarked is that the reason for non attendance is the low fees that is being collected from the students,and once the fees is hiked to Rs 50000/- students will not dare to bun classes. I strongly disagree with this proposition, since fees does not have any bearing on the attitude of students. I can visualise a student, and I have seen many behaving in this fashion- who thinks it is the duty of his parents to bear the cost of his education and his duty to enjoy his life! Now if his father is paying Rs 50000/- or Rs 100,000/- what difference does it make to him?
But then what is that which tends to keep students away from class? One obvious reason is lack of motivation. Every one here knows that even if you dont attend the class you can pass. Every one here knows that leaders of politcal outfits doesnt attend even a single class and still they sit for examination after obtaining duty certificates for drama competitions, and even for food committees for university youth festival. Every one here knows that even if you dont study, you can get away in the examinations since examiners are afraid of student power. Now what is then your motivation to study?
The question is how can we clean up?
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