At least 50 students of law are set graduate with pass degrees at the 67th graduation ceremony of Makerere University due to take place next week.
According to reports from the School of Law, no student attained a first class degree this time round, in what appears to be the worst performance. It is believed that only 9 out of the 247 graduating students of law will graduate with a Second Class Upper degree while 188 will graduate with a second class lower degree.
This is the first group of students to graduate from law school since the introduction of the pre-entry examinations for prospective students. The pre-entry examinations introduced in 2012, sought to sieve candidates seeking to join law school in a move which was initially meant to improve performances and quality of graduates.
It includes an aptitude test, English comprehension and composition, current affairs covering domestic, regional and international issues and the economy. Initially, best students with excellent marks at the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education were selected for the course. However, performances kept declining.
Dr Ronald Naluwairo, the acting deputy principal of School of Law told the press that this is the University’s first cohort since pre-entry examinations were introduced at School of Law, and they agreed as a school that after the first cohort graduates, they would review the performance of the students and the coloration between pre-entry exams and students' performance.
"I will not be able to make any statement regarding performance. However I am sure the school academic committee will sit to review the performance" he said.