Admit the 499 qualified candidates-Wonder Kutor
On May 14, the chairman of the Independent Examination Committee issued the notice in the Daily Graphic page 28. The notice in the discussion today, was not part of the publication. The said publication was to set the criteria for admission into the Ghana School of Law
The President of the Students’ Representative Council(SRC) of the Ghana School of Law has called on the General Legal Council to admit the 499 additional candidates who qualified into the Ghana School of Law but were denied admission.
According to the SRC, these 499 students duly had 50% and above in the entrance exams. Thus entitled to admission.
“It is against this background that we respectfully call on the General Legal Council to reconsider its decision which we deem as unfair to consider the 499 candidates as eligible into the Ghana School of Law, “he said.
“The SRC is co-operating with management and they are also cooperating with us. We have no reason to doubt them that they will admit the 499 candidates,” he added.
Addressing a press conference today, October 7, 2021, at the Makola Campus of the School, the President of the Students Representative Council of the GSL, Wonder Kutor further indicated that the SRC’s position was informed by the issue of legitimate expectations of the candidates relative to the exam pass mark and its post-independent audit of the results of the entrance exams.
“Last week, Law Entrance result was released. That result was for only 790 candidates. That result didn’t contain the results of all the 2824 candidates who sat for the exams. This week, the raw scores of all the candidates were released and published. However, the result was released together with a notice. It is instructive to state that the notice was not dated,” he indicated.
“But because the notice was published with the results, we presume that it was dated per the date of publication. I have the notice here with me. This sought to bring a threshold that one ought to have gotten 50% in section A and 50% in Section B,” he added.
He also indicated that the said notice that was published together with the list of successful Law School applicants has necessitated their press conference noting that after completing the results of the audits, he observed that 499 Candidates had the 50% and above, as stipulated by the notice.
Therefore the 499 candidates ought not to have been said to have failed the exams.
Additionally, Mr. Kutor indicated the basis of the SRCs position on the effect of the said notice released together with the list.
“When we talk about fairness, we must also be mindful of procedural fairness. Reasonable notice is an example of procedural fairness citing Awuni v.WAEC,” he said.
“On May 14, the chairman of the Independent Examination Committee issued the notice in the Daily Graphic page 28. The notice in the discussion today, was not part of the publication. The said publication was to set the criteria for admission into the Ghana School of Law,” he noted.
Moreover, Wonder noted that the decision to deny the 499 candidates was a preconceived one which was contained in the 2021 Budget of the Finance Ministry to the Parliament of Ghana which suggested the admission of only 500 students this year into the Ghana School of Law.
The SRC President, therefore, stated that the student body will advise its self in the coming days if the General Legal Council fails to admit the 499 qualified candidates.
In conclusion, he called on the Attorney General, Majority, and Minority groups in Parliament of the Republic to state their positions on the matter.
“The SRC respectfully wants to use the opportunity to call on the Attorney General to state his position on this matter. This matter is of National interest and we call him to state his position. We also call on the Majority and Minority groups in Parliament to state their positions on the matter. We call on the Parliamentary sub-committee on Education to state its position on the matter,” the SRC President said.
