Latest update June 25th, 2026 9:38 AM
A policy of ‘academic marginalization’
Dear Editor,
The recent announcement by Presidential adviser Gail Teixeira that the government is seriously thinking of establishing the local law school in light of the recent decision taken by the Council of Legal Education to no longer grant the quota system allowed for the twenty five LLB students from the University of Guyana is a step in the right direction.
The Council of Legal Education seems to be very short sighted in their management of the three law schools. If you have a total of five institutions (The three UWI branches, UG and University of London external program) turning out students with LLB degrees, then one would expect the CLE to increase the physical infrastructure of the three law schools to accommodate the growing number of students that want to complete their two years practical training at these institution to acquire the (legal Education Certificate) which would enable them to practice law in the commonwealth Caribbean. With students paying US$24,000 in fees for the two years of study, it clearly shows that CLE can make the necessary improvement to its infrastructure to accommodate the growing numbers and be economically sustainable; discriminating against non UWI LLB degree holders seems so retrogressive for an institution that supposed to be forward thinking and is tasked with the responsibility of providing CARICOM with the necessary skilled legal personnel to enhance their respective legal sector.
The implementation of the entrance examination by the Council of Legal Education (CLE) in which non UWI LLB degree holders have to write an entrance exam and succeed at such in order to gain entry into any one the three law schools is very discriminatory and is designed by personnel with an elitists colonial mentality to exclude large segments of society from having access to the practical training that is required for them to become attorneys.
Why should a student who would have successfully completed his/her LLB/JD now be compelled to write an entrance exam to enter law school because their degree was not granted by UWI? Is the CLE implying that non UWI institutions are not of the same quality in terms of their teaching and student output? It is rather unfortunate that a major academic institution in CARICOM can perpetuate a policy of ‘academic marginalization’, a policy that was alive and well during the colonial era and is now being embraced by policy planners tasked with providing equal opportunities to access legal education by those seeking to advance their legal careers.
The local law school when established should be named the Desiree Bernard Law School in recognition of her outstanding contribution made to the legal profession in Guyana and the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Michael Baird Jr
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