AG weighs in on mass failure of School of Law students

Attorney General Kihara Kariuki has blamed mass failure of students at the Kenya School of Law (KSL) on being tested on legal work that has not been taught.

Mr Kariuki said exams set by the Council of Legal Education (CLE) captured legal questions that had not be taught at the law school.

The latest results show 80 per cent of law students who sat their bar examinations in November 2018 did not qualify to be admitted for legal practice.

“There is need for harmonisation of functions between KSL and CLE…this is reflected in the fact that students appear to be tested on matters they are not taught,” he said yesterday in his submission to Senate Justice and Legal Affairs committee.

Mr Kariuki noted the outcome of a task force appointed last year to investigate the cause of the mass exam failures established that the students were not clear on the examiner’s expectations.

This, he said is one of the main factors influencing the dismal performance in the bar examinations.

A total of 14 universities in Kenya are accredited by the Commission for University Education to offer Bachelor of Laws degree.

Upon graduation, the students enroll at the KSL where they undergo the Advocates Training Programme which prepares them for practice as advocates.

The Senate is probing how more than 85 per cent of students who had passed graduate examinations could perform so dismally at the KSL following a petition by Abdalla Suleiman and Elkana Kitur.

The nine-member committee chaired by Nyamira Senator Okong’o Omogeni

Investigating whether the examinations could be a cash cow for the CLE, claims which the body’s chief executive Jacob Gakeri has denied.

An audit on of finances at the CLE and the KSL are expected to be carried out as part of the investigations.