THE University of Namibia will take over the administration of all Justice Training Centre examinations after the university’s pro-vice chancellor for education said the centre’s handling of the exam was not up to standard.
The decision to take over the administration came after some law students failed to sit for the legal drafting exams as part of their qualification requirements to determine whether they could be admitted as legal practitioners.
Unam spokesperson John Haufiku told yesterday that not much will change as the board will still maintain control of the centre.
“Unam will only step in as an administrator for the exams,” he explained.
The JTC is controlled by the board of Legal Education, a body that falls under the justice ministry, and is chaired by Chief Justice Peter Shivute.
While it is independent of Unam, it makes use of the university’s lecturers and facilities.
This is not the first time that there has been an outrage about the manner in which the JTC runs its affairs.
Students who declined to be named for fear of victimisation told that they are faced with challenges such as lecturers not always showing up for classes, and assessments being “left for the 11th hour”.
The students also said they are forced to write exams without knowing their continuous assessment marks because the lecturers “do not release the results on time”.
“You are hit with assignments in the month the exams are starting. Some of us go into the exams not even knowing what we got in tests and assignments. It is so frustrating,” one student lamented.
The Namibian could not get any response from the board for legal education regarding the matter as they did not respond to questions sent to them last week.
Another challenge the students faced is being able to find law firms in Windhoek to fulfil their 600 hours of work, while being confined to the capital because they have to meet 80% of class attendance.
“Why can we not also attend classes in the other towns where there are Unam campuses? Windhoek firms are full, and I found a firm willing to take me in at Swakopmund, but I also have to be in Windhoek to meet my 80% attendance,” the student said.
reported in 2009 that a group of 24 aspiring legal practitioners who were enrolled at the JTC had mounted a legal challenge against a decision to bar them from writing examinations because they did not attend 80% of their classes.
This is not the first time that the centre is being accused of maladministration.
The JTC class of 2015 handed over a petition to the JTC board that year for the attention of the Chief Justice, airing their concerns regarding the JTC’s administration.
The students, among others, complained about continuous assessment marks not being available a week before the exams were scheduled to start.
This year’s class also complained about writing exams without knowing what their course assignment marks are.
