Hugh Wooding Law School woes…Committee to be set-up to look into establishment of local law school

Jul 27, 2015 News

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As uncertainty looms over the fate of current and future Guyanese students at the Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS), the Guyana Government is looking to set up a committee to look into the establishment of a local institution.
The issue of a local law school was raised – once again – during a University of Guyana Law Department function held on Friday. At the function, law students interacted with UG officials and Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Basil Williams.
During that occasion, students expressed dissatisfaction with the current automatic entries policy and the increasing difficulties they face in securing a place at the HWLS. One concerned law student said that it was unfair that while a class held about 80 students, only 25 of them would be automatically allowed a spot at the Trinidad-based law school. Although he noted that those outside of the top 25 could take the HWLS entrance exam and secure a spot through that avenue, he said that only a limited number is allowed in from UG after taking the exams.
Therefore, he said, the current agreement between Guyana, the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Council for Legal Education (CLE) is archaic and “has outlived its usefulness.”

“So, the question of a local law school, to my mind, is very valid…we’re limiting ourselves right now,” the student added.
In response, AG Williams said that calls for a local law school were “pushing at an open door”. He explained that the Government of Guyana already had the issue on their radar.
“Having inherited this issue, I’ve started working on it but I had to consult with the persons who worked with this issue before,” he said.
The AG continued, “You’re talking about having a law school in Guyana and we’re weighing the pros and cons in that regard. In fact, all the options are open and we’ll eventually have to take to Cabinet some specific recommendations. That is a process, and we’re in the process of doing consultations in respect to that.”
In fact, he said, he is to appoint a committee to look at the very question of establishing a local law school.
Williams went on that the idea of a law school would have been one mooted years ago and which never materialised for reasons “many and varied”. Nonetheless, he said, the idea is going to be revisited.
The serious contemplation of a law school in Guyana was apparently spurred on by fees increase and entry difficulties into the HWLS in Trinidad.
Recently, it was announced that the HWLS would increase fees in a number of territories, including Guyana. According to HWLS documents, Guyanese students will now be required to pay just over TT$91,000 or approximately GYD$2.9M per year. Other students from Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines will also be required to pay this fee. For Guyanese students, 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.
Furthermore, the law school recently changed its payment policy. Previously, students would be allowed to pay their fees in increments. However, HWLS updated this policy and now students must pay their entire tuition at the beginning of the academic year.
The announcement of a fees increase has, of course, not gone unnoticed by the Guyana administration. In fact, suspicions have apparently been aroused as to why the announcement was only made public a few months before students are set to commence the 2015/2016 academic year in September.
During Friday’s forum, at least one student expressed the belief that the recent fees increase was an attempt to prevent University of Guyana students from entering the Hugh Wooding Law School. Williams did not refute the suspicion but rather said that the manner in which the increases were made public was highly suspect.
The Attorney General explained that the CLE meets annually and would make important decisions at these high-level meetings. He said that although he did not attend the last meeting, he suspected that any decision in regards to fees increase at HWLS would have occurred at the annual meeting.
“And so I wonder if such a decision is taken, why they had not given at least a year’s notice to students on the increase? It’s something we’re examining,” he said. He further said that he has been looking into getting the minutes of the last meeting but has been unsuccessful thus far.
Noting that students from other territories were also affected, Williams said, “It’s across the board but why spring it on students a few months before they’re required to pay – in Guyana’s case – a million dollar increase?”
Meanwhile, Williams indicated that negotiations with UG, UWI and CLE are afoot to reach a consensus in the automatic entries policy.
Furthermore, when questioned on whether there was a proposal at this time for UG to be a campus of UWI, it was indicated that there was no such proposal on the table. Rather, what is being proposed is for Guyana to have a law school similar to the ones found in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and the Bahamas.

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