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| Edited By: Smitha R |Source: DNA |Updated: Apr 12, 2012, 01:45 PM IST
Gujarat has the dubious distinction of constantly figuring in the bottom list as far as All India Bar Exam (AIBE) exam results are concerned. Educationist, lawyers and professors blame the mushrooming colleges sans adequate number of teachers and outdated teaching methods for the situation.
Figure this, in the AIBE exams conducted in January 2012, a mere 686 of the 1,500 who appeared managed to clear the exams. Thus with a pass percentage of 45.7%, Gujarat came third from the bottom, only managing to stay ahead of AP (41.38%) and Chhattisgarh (39.53%).
In the exams held in January 2011, Gujarat was second last among rest of the states with a pass percentage of 40%.
However, it had managed to improve its performance in the July 2011 exams with a pass percentage of 65% making it to the 14th position among all other states.
"There are in all 43 law colleges in Gujarat. In most of these colleges even attendance is not compulsory. As for exams, more or less the same questions are repeated every year and so students just mug up some of these question," said Anil Kella, former executive chairman of the Bar Council of Gujarat.
He said the exam conducted by the Bar Council of India is an entirely different ball game as it thoroughly tests the knowledge of a student.
"Because most of the students from Gujarat are used to an exam system that does not challenge their knowledge, they find the AIBE exams a tough call," Kella added. In the three-and-half hour exam, a candidate needs to score a minimum of 45 marks out of 100 to clear it.
Akil Saiyed, director, PM Patel College of Law and Human Rights in Anand also blamed lack of faculty in most law colleges for the situation. "There is a severe crunch of faculty in this discipline. When there aren't enough professors to teach, how can one expect students to do wonders in the exams," Saiyed asked.
He said that like in medicine, practising lawyers can be hired as visiting faculty who can give great insight to the students. "But then the visiting faculties are paid Rs100 per lecture. Why would a lawyer earning in thousands bother to come and teach aspiring lawyers," said Saiyed.
