Law students bemoan fees increase

Jul 19, 2015 News

…foresee difficulties, possible dropouts

Kiev Chesney, President of the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the Hugh Wooding Law School

For countless students currently attending and hoping to attend the Hugh Wooding Law School, the future does not look so bright, thanks to the imposition of an increase in fees.
In fact, law students have not only foreseen difficulties in paying the fees but possible dropouts by students.
One of those students is Kiev Chesney, President of the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the Hugh Wooding Law School. According to Chesney, who is also a second year Guyanese student at the school, the new fees increase is disconcerting and disheartening.
Noting that it was a “substantial increase”, Chesney said that the new fees structure will make it extremely difficult for many law students to complete their legal education. Further, he said, it may force students who have already begun their education at HWLS to drop out.
“Bearing this in mind the increases render access to legal education in the region inequitable and virtually unattainable for the average Guyanese student,” Chesney stressed. He continued, “Thousands of brilliant Guyanese and aspiring lawyers from other jurisdictions and across the region will be disenfranchised if they cannot afford these new fees, leaving the profession open to only those with the adequate finance to enter.”
According to HWLS documents, Guyanese students will now be required to pay just over TT$91,000, per year. This equates to approximately GYD$2.9M. Other students from Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines will also be required to pay this fee. Accommodation and living expenses are, of course, excluded from the total.
Chesney explained that the new fee represents an increase of 38.7% or approximately GYD$833,000 per year. For the two-year programme, the tuition represents a GYD$1.6M difference from the previous fees.
The CSR President further estimated that in addition to the nearly GYD$6M for tuition, students will also need to factor in approximately GYD$3M for accommodation, food and other expenses for the two-year period. This would push the estimated figure to nearly GYD$9M.
He said, too, that the situation is made more difficult by the fact that a person cannot practise law within the region unless they receive a Legal Education Certificate (LEC) from one of the three law schools which fall under the Council of Legal Education. HWLS is one of these schools.
The introduction of increased fees was not the only change implemented by HWLS. Recently, the institution changed its payment policy. Previously, students were allowed to pay a year’s tuition in increments. However, with the updated policy students are now required to pay for the entire year upfront.
The 2015/2016 academic year is slated to begin in September. This leaves students with less than two months to find the additional funds.
“The Students Representative Council is therefore asking that the Government of Guyana and other stakeholders at the local, regional and at the level of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), to intervene to allow us to have reasonable and equitable access too legal education and training in the region,” Chesney implored.
The plight of the students has not gone unnoticed by the Government of Guyana. During last week’s post Cabinet media briefing, Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman indicated that that Guyana Government was looking into ways on how to assist the foreign students.
He had emphasised that Government would not assume the responsibilities of paying the students’ fees. Instead, he said, the administration will work along with HWLS and the Council of Legal Education to sort the issue out.
He said, too, that the Government will perhaps speak with some financial institutions to see if some arrangement can be put in place to offset any complication.
Meanwhile, it seems like the Barbados Government has also intervened in the matter in regards to its own students.
According to HWLS, the tuition fees for Barbadian students is approximately TT$19,000. The Government of Barbados will cover 80% of the cost of each Barbados student for the period 2015/2016.