LDC sets new admission requirements

Aug 18, 2020

Recently, LDC resumed lectures online. New Vision has learnt that besides these, LDC has instructed the students to prepare for clerkship (internship) at private law chambers.

Any person intending to enroll at the Law Development Centre (LDC) to pursue postgraduate studies for the award of a law practising certificate, will be required to make an undertaking to study online.

The LDC, in its call for applications to the Bar Course, for the first intake for the 2020/2021 academic year, said only applicants ‘willing and able to undertake online distance learning should apply for admission'.

"The National Council for Higher Education (NHCE) has approved the LDC Bar Course for open, distance and e-learning.

The Bar Course may be conducted online or with a blend of both online and physical learning in accordance with the guidelines issued by the NCHE and the rules for passing the Bar Course," Everest Turyahikayo, the academic registrar, said.

He said the successful applicants will be posted to any of the three LDC campuses (Kampala, Mbarara and Lira), and that the course will be conducted through distance and/or physical learning.

When schools closed in March as a preventive measure against COVID-19 spread, some educational institutions started online learning. Some, like the Uganda Christian University, witnessed the wrath of Ugandans when it tried to introduce online learning.

Challengers of the move argued that many Ugandans who cannot afford to buy laptops and/or data will be disenfranchised. This also drew the attention of the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Mrs Janet Kataha Museveni, who stopped the rolling out of the programme.

However, in July, as the hopes of reopening schools were further dashed by the increasing cases of COVID-19 in the country, she gave the go-ahead to universities to start online learning, but under the NCHE guidelines.

"It is our desire as a sector that all universities and tertiary institutions do e-learning as soon as possible," she said, noting that the only critical requirement would be to ensure that no continuing learner is left behind or excluded from learning.

She said the ministry had already put in place guidelines for the implementation of e-learning.

Recently, LDC resumed lectures online. New Vision has learnt that besides these, LDC has instructed the students to prepare for clerkship (internship) at private law chambers.

However, due to the COVID-19 measures, many students are finding it hard getting placements because private law chambers are running on skeletal staff.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Applications for the Bar Course close on August 28, 2020. Turyahikayo said those intending to apply for this intake should have a bachelor's degree in law awarded by a university in Uganda whose law programme has been accredited by the Law Council.

However, Turyahikayo said current undergraduate students who have not yet completed their degree programmes are ineligible to apply for admission.

"Applicants who had applied for admission to academic year 2020/21 before the issuance of this advertisement need not reapply," he said.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});