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?