NAB, GLC to improve standard of legal education

The National Accreditation Board (NAB) and the General Legal Council (GLC) have agreed on the need for strict quality control measures to improve the teaching and learning of law programmes at the tertiary level.

The two institutions agreed to carry out review and assessment visits to all institutions running law programmes.

A statement signed by Mr Lawrence Kwarteng-Ashia, Head of Public Relations, NAB and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said the decision was reached at a meeting between the two institutions to fine-tune plans on how best to improve and address challenges facing legal education in the country. The General Legal Council is the statutory body mandated to regulate professional legal education in Ghana.

Justice Jones Dotse, a Supreme Court Justice, expressed concern about the massive failure of students aspiring to be lawyers hence, the need for both institutions to collaborate to improve standards in the legal educational space.

Dr Kingsley Nyarko, the Acting Executive Secretary of NAB, said post-accreditation exercises such as academic audit, monitoring and investigative visits, among others were measures the Board would undertake to ensure that institutions conform to the conditions on which accreditation was granted.

Professor Kofi Awusabo-Asare, the Chairman of the National Accreditation Board, re-emphasized how imperative it was for both institutions to carry out joint monitoring activities to the 15 tertiary educational institutions offering law programmes to ensure that minimum standards were maintained.

Among the issues discussed at the meeting were minimum entry requirements into law programmes, staff qualifications and staff strength as well as physical facilities, financial and other resources needed to run law programmes.

Thee statement said among other areas the two institutions will be focusing on during the monitoring exercise is to check for compliance to the approved standards.

Some members of the GLC in attendance are Professor Ofori Amankwah, Justice Sir Dennis Adjei, Mr Henry K. Prempeh-ECK, Mr Franklina Adanu, Mr Anthony Forson Jnr, Mr Amoako Adjei, Mr Peter Kornor, and Justine Amenuvor.