Makerere lecturer resigns over failures
Apr 26, 2009
A SENIOR lecturer at the Law Development Centre (LDC) has resigned after only 60 out of 800 students passed his paper.
By Fortunate Ahimbisibwe
A SENIOR lecturer at the Law Development Centre (LDC) has resigned after only 60 out of 800 students passed his paper.
Stephen Mubiru, the head of the Criminal Proceedings section, resigned earlier this month after he was asked to remark the paper, according to an official at the centre.
Out of the 800 students who sat the exam, 300 were re-sitting after having failed the paper the previous year.
“When more than 80% of the class fails, this suggests that the lecturer has a problem and that is why we thought the paper should be remarked. The lecturer refused to accept this position and preferred to resign,†said the official.
The deputy director of the centre, Pasy Tuhaise, declined to comment on Mubiru’s resignation but acknowledged that many students had failed the paper.
“That paper has been a problem and some students have petitioned for remarking and their petitions are being considered. Most of the students did not pass.â€
She said those who failed had been called to do supplementary papers. The board of examiners, she added, will meet next week to assess the results before they are officially released.
A source said this development is the reason why the centre has not yet released the results, nine months after the examinations.
The management of examinations at the centre continues to be a challenge.
In August last year, the head of the Commercial Law department, Augustine Twesigire, ordered for the cancellation of the Commercial Transactions paper after he suspected that some students had gained access to the questions before the date of the examination.
The candidates who sat for that paper include former health minister Jim Muhwezi, former Internal Security boss Henry Tumukunde and the former Minister for Disaster Preparedness, Moses Ali.
LDC is the only institution in Uganda that admits graduate lawyers to obtain diplomas in legal practice. A lawyer cannot practice as an advocate without acquiring the diploma. There have been calls for liberalisation so that other institutions can offer the bar course.
In the past, half of the candidates failed the examination, a development that prompted an investigation which was chaired by Francis Lubanga, the permanent secretary of the education ministry.
..
A SENIOR lecturer at the Law Development Centre (LDC) has resigned after only 60 out of 800 students passed his paper.
Stephen Mubiru, the head of the Criminal Proceedings section, resigned earlier this month after he was asked to remark the paper, according to an official at the centre.
Out of the 800 students who sat the exam, 300 were re-sitting after having failed the paper the previous year.
“When more than 80% of the class fails, this suggests that the lecturer has a problem and that is why we thought the paper should be remarked. The lecturer refused to accept this position and preferred to resign,†said the official.
The deputy director of the centre, Pasy Tuhaise, declined to comment on Mubiru’s resignation but acknowledged that many students had failed the paper.
“That paper has been a problem and some students have petitioned for remarking and their petitions are being considered. Most of the students did not pass.â€
She said those who failed had been called to do supplementary papers. The board of examiners, she added, will meet next week to assess the results before they are officially released.
A source said this development is the reason why the centre has not yet released the results, nine months after the examinations.
The management of examinations at the centre continues to be a challenge.
In August last year, the head of the Commercial Law department, Augustine Twesigire, ordered for the cancellation of the Commercial Transactions paper after he suspected that some students had gained access to the questions before the date of the examination.
The candidates who sat for that paper include former health minister Jim Muhwezi, former Internal Security boss Henry Tumukunde and the former Minister for Disaster Preparedness, Moses Ali.
LDC is the only institution in Uganda that admits graduate lawyers to obtain diplomas in legal practice. A lawyer cannot practice as an advocate without acquiring the diploma. There have been calls for liberalisation so that other institutions can offer the bar course.
In the past, half of the candidates failed the examination, a development that prompted an investigation which was chaired by Francis Lubanga, the permanent secretary of the education ministry.
..