There was a protracted debate on whether the uniform standard and format for the conduct of assessment that will be contained in the Legal Education Reform Bill 2025 should be communicated to students.
The House, on Friday, February 20, 2026 spent some time on the subject, during the consideration stage of the bill, which has been going on for some days now.
It was clause 49, which had the rendition that seeks to introduce uniform standards and formats for assessing students in universities that run law programme.
Though the legislators agreed in principle on the need to harmonise legal education standards nationwide, they were initially split over whether the students should also be made aware in a manual.
Prior to that, an amendment to replace the word ‘examination’ with ‘assessment’ had been successful. The amendment was carried by voice vote.
DIVERSE VIEWS
Osahen Alexander Afenyo Markin, the Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Effutu, argued that the student manual should contain the format for conducting assessments to inform students.
The chairman of the Constitution and Legal Affairs Committee, Mahama Shaibu, Daboya/Mankarigu MP was of the view that there was no need to add it to the main act, as the regulation could deal with that.
The First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor, who presided, did not think the mode of communication to the students of the standard was more important than the standard itself.
According to him, the focus should rather be on the standard itself to have uniformity across the various universities running the programme.
“So long as you are running the law programme, your standard should not be different from another university’s standard. That’s why it says that a university that runs a law programme shall set a uniform standard and format for the conduct of assessment. But if the sense of the house is to add to it, I do not have a problem,” he stated.
The Minority Leader, like the rest of the House, was not against the uniform standard to be set but argued that it should be part of the law for the mode of assessment to be communicated to the student. He remarked that abroad, where he studied, it was normal for a student to contact a tutor if they had reservations with their results, “and any question you have, you can ask.”
He continued that, “In Ghana, we all know, in the Ghanaian universities, you can’t do that. You would have to apply. It takes a very long time. Sometimes you dare not challenge even your marks. This legislation is introducing a new dispensation. One, we want to ensure standards. We want to ensure a uniform assessment by all the universities.
It would be prudent. It would be fair. It would be right for this uniform assessment to be contained in a manual for a student to know. We cannot say that because it is meant for the regulator, a student who would be assessed must not know this.
“So, Mr Speaker, for me, even if it is superfluous, we should legislate and let the language be clear… How can you be in a university, and there is a uniform standard that has been approved by the Academic Board, which in itself has been approved by the Regulator, and that student who has enrolled in that school cannot know it?
“So, it is important we put it in the law. We bring finality to that. And, Mr Speaker, I propose, so that we don’t waste time, that we add the following to the assessment, which shall be communicated in the student manual. So, the new rendition, therefore, shall read, ‘A university that runs a law programme shall set a uniform standard and format for the conduct of assessment, which shall be contained in the student manual.’ Mr Speaker, that is the proposal. Thank you.”
He had the support of the Member of Parliament for Wa Central, Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, who said, “Mr Speaker, my presentation is not going to be about the new rendition but to support what the minority leader is talking about. That it is important to put it in a plain message in the brochure or whatever message it is, the student book.”
The First Deputy Speaker put the question on the proposed amendment, which was agreed upon by a voice vote.
Meanwhile, the consideration stage will continue tomorrow from Clause 50 when sitting resumes following the weekend.
THE BILL
The bill introduces a Law Practice Training Course to be offered by accredited universities which will prepare candidates for the National Bar Examination.
The Law Practice Training Course will emphasise clinical legal education and the acquisition of practical lawyering skills, rather than purely theoretical instruction.
Holders of the Bachelor of Laws degree or other approved first degrees in law will be required to gain admission to that course before qualifying to sit for the national bar exams.
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