LAW COLLEGES: FACT FINDING
Summary of the Questionnaires Sent by the Law Colleges
Questionnaires were sent to all Law Colleges of Bangladesh. 23 colleges responded and sent back the questionnaires.
Question Number 1 and 2:
13 colleges: Have own building, 10 colleges: Rented building (in most of the cases it is a building of local High School.) Class rooms of the law colleges range from 2 to 9. Most of the law colleges have 2 class rooms, one for Preliminary and another for Final students.
Question Number 3 to 7
24 colleges
[1] gave their full account of 2000-2001 session about how many students got admitted into Preliminary, how many filled up preliminary form, how many appeared in the examination and how many passed.
Number of colleges
Number of students admitted into Preliminary
Number of students fill-up forms for
Pre. Exam
Number of students appeared the Pre. Exam
Number of students passed Preliminary Examination
Break up of the result
24 law colleges
6254
3064
2120
634 (10.13%)
6243rd Class
10 2nd Class
Question Number 8 to 11
24 colleges gave their full account of how many students filled up form for Final examination, how many appeared in the examination and how many passed.
Number of colleges
Number of students fill-up forms for Final Exam
Number of students appeared Final Exam
Number of students passed Final Exam
Break up of the result
24law colleges
1269 (Includes 634 plus students of previous year)
982
342 (27% approximately.)
327 3rd Class
15 2nd Class
Question Number 12
Name of College
Number of Students
Chittagong Law College
950
Rajshahi Law College
168
Bangabandhu Law Temple, Chittagong
352
City Law College, Dhaka
429
Rangpur Law College
187
Dinajpur Law College
116
Norsingdi Law College
245
Brammanbaria Law College
71
Sylhet Law College
472
Joypurhat Law College
58
Kurigram Law College
50
Pirozpur Law College
200
Central Law College, Khulna
111
Bangabandhu Law College, Comilla
355
Sirajgonj Law College
150
Noakhali Law College
150
Bangabandhu Law College, Madaripur
979
Cox's Bazar Law College
129
Khagrachori Law College
94
Bagerhat Law College
79
Satkhira Law College
204
Greenview Law College, Dhaka
110
Bogra Law College
250
Question Number 13:
Name of College
5 years percentage of the students passed
Chittagong Law College
68.3%,69.3%, 48.23%, 23.95%, 44.82%
Rajshahi Law College
13.79%, 51.02%, 42.24%, 25%, 37.50%
Bangabandhu Law Temple, Chittagong
67%, 78%, 71%, 32%, 33%
City Law College, Dhaka
32.91%, 69.91%, 47.16%, 47.86%, 34.37%
Rangpur Law College
16%, 61.15%, 00%, 29.29%, 11.11%
Dinajpur Law College
25%, 62.50%, 21.25%, 3.50%, 4%
Norsingdi Law College
Not Available
Brammanbaria Law College
100%, 34.88%, 25%, 22%, 25%
Sylhet Law College
Not Available
Joypurhat Law College
12%, 12%, 5%, 12%, 10%
Kurigram Law College
5%, 48%, 5%, 3%
Pirozpur Law College
Not Available
Central Law College, Khulna
40%, 40%, 78.57%, 47.37%, 66.67%
Bangabandhu Law College, Comilla
100%, 30.76%, 40%, 37.50%
Sirajgonj Law College
81%, 16%, 75%, 2.50%, 15%
Noakhali Law College
Not Available
Bangabandhu Law College, Madaripur
N/A
Cox's Bazar Law College
23%, 40%, 52%, 45%, 30%
Khagrachori Law College
N/A
Bagerhat Law College
16.67%, 13.64%, 76.47%, 50%, 55.56%
Satkhira Law College
38%, 30%, 39%, 35%, 40%
Greenview Law College, Dhaka
57.14%, 80%, 44.44%, 40%
Bogra Law College
26%, 44%, 26%, 19%, 15%
Question Number 14:
Name of College
Percentage of students who failed to complete their study
Chittagong Law College
25%
Rajshahi Law College
Not Available
Bangabandhu Law Temple, Chittagong
20%
City Law College, Dhaka
25%
Rangpur Law College
60%
Dinajpur Law College
75%
Norsingdi Law College
36%
Brammanbaria Law College
N/A
Sylhet Law College
60%
Joypurhat Law College
80%
Kurigram Law College
65%
Pirozpur Law College
N/A
Central Law College, Khulna
73%
Bangabandhu Law College, Comilla
50%
Sirajgonj Law College
60%
Noakhali Law College
70%
Bangabandhu Law College, Madaripur
Preliminary 39%, Final 15%
Cox's Bazar Law College
60%
Khagrachori Law College
20%
Bagerhat Law College
75%
Satkhira Law College
30%
Greenview Law College, Dhaka
50%
Bogra Law College
75%
Question Number 15:
Name of College
Total Number of Teachers
Full-time Teachers
Part-time Teachers
Chittagong Law College
9
3
6
Rajshahi Law College
9
6
3
Bangabandhu Law Temple, Chittagong
8
3
5
City Law College, Dhaka
10
2
8
Rangpur Law College
7
3
4
Dinajpur Law College
7
0
7
Norshindi Law College
10
3
7
Brammanbaria Law College
16
2
14
Sylhet Law College
13
3
10
Joypurhat Law College
7
3
4
Kurigram Law College
10
3
7
Pirozpur Law College
14
0
14
Central Law College, Khulna
11
-
-
Bangabandhu Law College, Comilla
15
9
6
Sirajgonj Law College
13
0
13
Noakhali Law College
11
3
8
Bangabandhu Law College, Madripur
9
4
5
Cox's Bazar Law College
8
2
6
Khagrachori Law College
6
6
0
Bagerhat Law College
7
3
4
Satkhira Law College
8
3
5
Greenview Law College, Dhaka
9
8
1
Bogra Law College
8
4
4
Question Number 16:
In 20 law colleges the main profession of the part-time teachers is practice, in one college it is service, in one college it is both practice and service. One college did not give answer to this question.
Question Number 17:
Five colleges get their teachers evaluated by the students, 18 colleges do not have any system of evaluation.
Question Number 18:
19 colleges have no arrangement to train up their teachers. 2 colleges have this arrangement, 2 colleges abstained from answering this question.
Question Number 19:
In 15 colleges lecture is used as method of teaching. 6 Law Colleges combine lecture, participatory, and clinical methods of teaching. One law college combines lecture and participatory methods and another combines lecture and clinical methods to impart legal education.
Question Number 20:
8 Law colleges said that they do not require minimum percentage of attendance in the classes for appearing in the examination. 3 law colleges require 75% attendance, 2 law colleges 60%, 3 law colleges 50%, 3 law colleges 30%, 1 law college 45%, 1 law college 40% and 1 law college 25% to appear in the examination.
Question Number 21:
12 law colleges have no system to disqualify students for examination because of less attendance. 5 colleges do not keep such data. 2 colleges did not allow students to sit for examination because of less attendance. 4 colleges did not give any answer to this question.
Question Number 22:
In 17 law colleges no student write their answer script in English. One college abstained from answering. In 5 law colleges some students answer the questions in English. In Brammanbaria Law College the students who write their scripts in English is 1%, in City Law College, Dhaka, it is 2.5%, in Noakhali Law College it is 5%, in Bangabandhu Law Temple it is 10%, in Rangpur Law College it is 5%.
Question Number 23:
15 law colleges take class test of the students, 6 law colleges have no such arrangement. 2 law colleges did not give answer to this question.
Question Number 24:
12 colleges have the practice of arranging meeting or workshop on current issues of law, 10 colleges lack this type of practice, 1 college abstained from answering.
Question Number 25:
14 law colleges have the practice of arranging moot court, 9 colleges do not have such programme.
Question Number 26:
21 law colleges provide library facility to the students. Khagrachori Law College provides library, computer lab and Internet based research facilities. Noakhali Law College provides library and computer lab.
Question No 27:
Six law colleges buy books for library from own fund. 16 buy from own fund and receive donation for buying books, and also keep complementary copies of the books. One law college abstained from answering.
Question No 28:
Name of College
Number of Books etc in library
Chittagong Law College
1850
Rajshahi Law College
503
Bangabandhu Law Temple, Chittagong
1345
City Law College, Dhaka
2500
Rangpur Law College
1080
Dinajpur Law College
900
Norsingdi Law College
3000
Brammanbaria Law College
600
Sylhet Law College
4823
Joypurhat Law College
500
Kurigram Law College
1100
Pirozpur Law College
200
Central Law College, Khulna
227
Bangabandhu Law College, Comilla
1112
Sirajgonj Law College
150
Noakhali Law College
3500
Bangabandhu Law College, Madaripur
3000
Cox's Bazar Law College
1150
Khagrachori Law College
---
Bagerhat Law College
200
Satkhira Law College
1307
Greenview Law College, Dhaka
1400
Bogra Law College
1200
Dhaka Law College
1000
Mohanagar Law College, Dhaka
1000
Central Law College, Dhaka
3000
Question No 29:
18 Colleges keep Law Reports, 5 colleges have no such report.
Question No 30:
17 colleges collect recently published books annually, 2 colleges collect in every six months, 3 colleges according to their needs, and one college in every month.
Question No 31:
12 colleges collect Law Report or Law Journal as annual subscriber, 3 colleges as monthly subscriber, 4 colleges collect Law Report or Law Journal regularly, but not as subscriber, 1 college as six monthly subscriber, 1 college very often, and 2 colleges did not give any answer to this question.
Question No 32:
14 colleges wrote the names of different law reports, they are-- DLR, BLD, PLD, AIR etc. 3 colleges wrote only the name of DLR. 6 colleges failed to write name of any law report.
Question No 33:
All Colleges said institutional accountability is maintained by their respective Governing Bodies.
Present Condition of Law College Education
Law college education is the oldest legal education in Bangladesh. Many established and reputed judges and advocates once took their legal education from law colleges. In 1972 LL.B. (Honours) and LL.M. were introduced in the public universities. Meritorious and regular students started to study law after passing their H.S.C. examination. Any person of any age can get admitted into any law college, but only regular students have the opportunity to study LL.B. (Honours) and LL.M. As there is no age bar, so people of all ages can avail the opportunity to study two years' law course from the law colleges.
Every college has a Governing Body, composition of which is determined by the National University. There must be one Chairman of the Governing Body and Principal of the college is the ex-officio Member-Secretary. National University appoints two members and teachers of the concerned college elect two members as their representatives. This six-member Governing Body is the highest administrative authority of a law college.
Officials of reputed law colleges alleged that, when the law colleges were affiliated with and guided by the public universities, the quality and standard of law colleges were far more better. But the time when the law colleges were placed under the authority of National University, from that time on the quality and standard of law colleges started to worsen. Public universities were very strict and careful in giving permission to establish any new law college, but National University is not so careful and anybody can get permission to establish law college who has the ability to manage National University authority. Allegation that National University has given permission to establish law college on political consideration has raised by different quarters.
Two researchers of Law Commission affiliated with CIDA Legal Reform Project--Part A visited 8 law colleges of Rajshahi, Chitttagong, and Dhaka to see the present state of law college education. A brief account of the outcome of the visit has been given below.
Bangabandhu Law Temple:
This law college was established in 1972. From 5 P.M. to 7.30 P.M. usually classes are held in this college. There are 7 teachers, out of them 3 are full time and 4 are part-time teachers. All the teachers are advocates of the local bar. Advocate A.M. Anwarul Kabir is the current principal of this college.
Infrastructure of the College: The college does not have its own building. For classes and official purpose they utilize the Municipal Government Model Primary School. They have one classroom for preliminary and one for final students. The college has a library having around 1200 books. The library keeps law books, bare Acts and Law Reports.
Admission of the Students: There is no provision of admission test in this college. The students who have passed B.A. or equivalent examinations and have four points in the previous three examinations (S.S.C., H.S.C., and B.A.) can get admitted into the college. Assuming first division equal to 3, second division 2, and third division 1 point, they count the points for the purpose of admission. Anybody of any age can get admitted into this law college. Currently there are 268 students in the Preliminary Section and 44 students are in Final Section. Out of this 312 students 48 students are female, rest are male students. Some students attend the class regularly, most of them do not attend the class. According to the statement of officials, 25% students remain present in the classes.
Teaching Methodology: All the teachers follow lecture method when teaching the students. Sometimes teachers respond to the questions of the students, they categorise this as participatory method. A teacher has to take classes at least two days in a week.
Examination System: At the end of first year Preliminary examination is held, and at the end of second year Final Examination. Both the examinations are taken by the National University.
In the 2001-02 session 542 students got admitted into Bangabandhu Law Temple as Preliminary students. Out of this total number 197 filled-up forms for appearing Preliminary Examination, but finally 176 students appeared in the examination. 44 students out of 176 passed the Preliminary examination, they are now attending classes as Final students. All the 44 students got third class.
In 1999-2001 session 533 students got admitted into this college as Preliminary students. Among them 199 students filled-up the forms for attending Preliminary Examination, out of that number 156 appeared in the examination, and finally 38 students passed the examination. 36 students got third class and 2 students got second class. In 2000-2001 session these 38 students got admitted into this college as final students. For final examination 53 (the 38 + previous students) students filled-up forms and 46 appeared the examination. Among them only 17 students were able to pass the final examination and all of them got third class.
Income and Expenditure of the College: Tuition fees and other fees taken from the students are the source of income of the Bangabandhu Law Temple. This college does not get any government donation or other aid from outside source. When anybody comes to get admitted into this college s/he has to pay 550 Tk., out of which 175 Tk. is given to the National University. When any student wants to fill-up the form for preliminary examination, s/he has to pay a sum total of 2460 Tk, 1200 Tk. as tuition fee, 300 Tk. center fee, 860 Tk. as examination fee, and 100 Tk. as miscellaneous. Students intend to fill-up the form for final examination have to pay 2560Tk., 1200 Tk. as tuition fee, 960 Tk. as examination fee, 300 Tk. as center fee, and 100 Tk. as miscellaneous. Tk.860 and Tk. 960 are given to the National University for Preliminary Examination and Final Examination respectively.
The college authority pays for the electricity and water, they do not give any monthly rent to the school authority for utilizing their building. Time to time the college authority buy books for the library. They have to expend some money for maintaining the office of the law college.
Chittagong Law College
Chittagong Law College is imparting legal education for many years.
Infrastructure of the college: Chittagong Law College does not have its own building. Utilizing premises of a school the classes are held from 5.30 P.M. to 8 P.M. There are four classrooms. Students are divided into different sections having 200 students in a section. It has a library containing 1200 books. Among the books there are Law Books, bare Acts, and different volumes of DLR. Six office staffs maintain the affairs of the College.
Teaching staffs: There are 9 teachers, among them 2 are barristers and 7 are advocates of the local bar. Principal and Vice-Principal are full-time, the rest are part-time teachers. 30% students are seen to attend the classes regularly.
Admission of Students: There is no admission test. Any individual of any age may get admitted into this college as there is no bar on the age. Any individual may become student of the college and attend the classes by giving the admission fee, monthly tuition fee and other fees.
Students: Currently there are 900 preliminary students and 364 final students. Among the preliminary students 200 are female students, and rest are male students. Among the final students 75 are female and rest are male studnets.
Teaching Methodology: All the teachers follow lecture method when teaching the students. Sometimes teachers respond to the questions of the students, they categorise this as participatory method. A teacher has to take classes at least two days in a week.
Dhaka Law College
Dhaka Law College was established in 1972. Barrister Abdul Hamid founded this Law College. The college has its own building at 24/1 Topkhana Road, Dhaka-1000. From that time onwards this college has been imparting legal education.
Infrastructure of the college: There are three classrooms for the students. According to official statement this college has a library containing more than three thousands books. But when visiting the library the researchers found that there are hardly 1000 books in the library.
Teaching Staffs: There are 10 teachers in this college, out of them 6 are full-time and 4 are part-time teachers. All the full time teachers have to come everyday. The teachers do not have fixed salary, it depends on the classes taken. For taking a class one teacher is given 8 hundred taka. At the end of the month total number of classes are counted and a teacher is remunerated accordingly. Everyday 3 classes of preliminary, and 3 classes of final are held.
Students: Now there are 500 preliminary students and 300 final students in the college. All the students do not attend classes regularly, only 25% to 30% students are seen to attend the classes regularly. This 30% does not include the same students, they attend the classes at their will in different days of the week.
Teaching Methodology: Usually teachers follow lecture method, but they respond to the questions of the students. Sometimes students report to the Principal, Vice-Principal or any officer of the college if the content of any lecture is not understandable. Principal or Vice-Principal then asks the concerned teacher to make the content clear to the students. There is no direct system of evaluation.of teachers by the students.
Examination System: After the completion of first year preliminary examination is held, after the end of second year final examination. In addition to these examinations, teachers often take class tests. A student has to attend 60% of the total classes, otherwise s/he cannot be allowed to attend the examination. In practice this rule is not maintained.
Income and Expenditure: This college does not get any government or other donation or any grants from any organisation. College's only income comes from the fees given by the students. When any student come to get admitted into the college, s/he has to give 1000 Tk. as session charge and 200 Tk. as registration charge. At the end of the first year, students have to pay 1800 Tk. as tuition fees for 12 months (150Tk.X 12= 1800) and 1170 Tk. as examination fee. National University authority determines the examination fee and it varies from time to time.
The college expends money for the affairs of the office, for maintenance of the building, for paying off the salary of teachers.
City Law College
Patronized by Sher-e-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Haque, Dr. Alim-Al-Razi established the City Law College in 1957. It was the first Law College in the then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. This college has been imparting legal education for couple of decades with reputation.
Infrastructure of the college: The college has its own building. It has 5 classrooms, 3 library rooms, 2 common rooms, one for male and another for female students, 2 office rooms, and one room for Principal and Vice-Principal. For maintaining the affairs of the office, there are 2 officers and 8 staffs.
Teachers and Teaching Methodology: There are 11 teachers in this law college, all of them are senior lawyers of the Supreme Court. Sometimes some judges teach the students, which is extra-ordinary feature of this college. As the teachers are senior advocates and judges of the Supreme Court, so they do not require any training. Here students-teachers relationship is very cordial. If the students do not understand the content of the lecture, they ask to the teacher, and the teacher make the concept clear to the students. Most of the teachers follow lecture method, but views of the students are taken into consideration.
Students: This college get qualified students as retired Secretary, Joint-Secretary, serving Magistrates get admitted into this college for getting LL.B. degree. At least 20% students of this college write their answer scripts in English.
In the Preliminary session of 2000-2001, 193 students got admitted into this college, out of them 107 students filled-up forms. 102 students appeared in the Preliminary examination, and finally 50 students passed the examination, all of them got third class. For Final Examination'2002, 97 students filled-up forms, out of them 95 students appeared in the examination and 33 students passed and all of them got third class. 122 students filled-up forms for Final examination'2001, 117 students appeared in the examination and finally 56 students passed the examination. Out of them 4 students got second class and 52 students got third class. 113 students filled-up forms for the Final examination'1999 and 79 students passed the examination and all got third class. 109 students filled-up forms for the Final Examination'2000, out of them 50 students passed the examination. 1 student got first class, 18 students got second class, and 31 students got third class.
Examination System: Preliminary and Final examinations are held at the end of first and second year respectively. In addition to this the teachers take class tests at regular interval.
Library: The officials of the college informed that there are more than 4000 books in the library of the college. But when visiting the library it appeared to the researchers that the books may not exceed 2000. The college authority collect books by different means. College authority get complimentary copies of different books, sometimes writers donate their books to the library. In addition to this, college authority buy books every year according to the demands of the students.
Moot Court: In this college moot courts are arranged regularly. This is a unique feature of this college as most of the law colleges do not have any arrangement to hold moot courts.
Computer Laboratory: College authority is planning to establish a computer laboratory in the premises of the college. It is another unique feature of the college as almost all the colleges do not have any computer lab. and they do not have any plan to establish a lab either.
College Hostel: This college has its own hostel with 37 seats. The hostel has accommodated 37 law college students.
Mahanagar Law College
Mahanagar Law College was established in 1990. From that time till now it is giving legal education.
Infrastructure of the College: It does not have its own building. The college functions in the evening in the building of Begum Rahima High School. It has 4 class rooms, one library and one office room. College authority gives 8 thousand taka to the school authority for utilizing their building. College do not arrange any workshop/seminars on the current issues of law. Every day classes are held from 5 P.M. to 8 P.M.
Teachers and Teaching Methodology: 11 teachers are imparting legal education in this college. All the teachers are advocates of local bar and part time teachers of this college. Though theoretically some teachers are full time, but in practice they serve as part time teachers. Usually teachers follow lecture method, but responses of students are taken into consideration. If the students cannot understand any lecture, they inform to the officials of the college, who then ask the teachers to make the lecture clear.
Previously National University arranged different training programs for enhancing the professional standard of the law college teachers, but now they are not arranging this type of training programs.
Students: Every year in an average 250 students come and get admitted into this college. In 2000-2001 session 250 students got admitted into the college. Among them 114 students filled-up forms for preliminary examination. 70-75 students appeared in the examination and 58 students passed the preliminary examination. 43 out of 58 students filled-up forms for Final Examination'2001. Only 22 students appeared in the examination and 10 students passed the examination and all got third class.
Students who cannot attend 60% classes, they are told that they will not be permitted to appear in the examination, but in practice the authority does not maintain it.
Library: Officials of the college stated that the college library contain around 2200 books, but during the visit the researchers saw that there are hardly 1000 books in the library. College authority buy law books, reference books, and law reports in an yearly basis.
Moot Court: Once this college arranged moot courts. Now the authority does not organize moot court because of the disinterest of the students.
Examination System: Preliminary and final examinations are held at the end of first year and second year respectively. Teachers take class test in 15 days or in a month. Before the course final examination the college hold test examination of the students.
During their visit the researchers noticed the students were appearing class test, but the invigilation was not strict.
Central Law College
Central Law College was established in 1963. From that time on this college is imparting legal education and earned some reputation in giving legal education.
Infrastructure of the College
Central Law College has its own building beside the main road of Bijoynagar. It's permanent address is 193, Shaheed Syed Nazrul Islam Sarani, Bijoynagar, Dhaka-1000. It has six classrooms for the students. It has a library containing 3 thousands books.
Teachers and Teaching Methodology: The college has 10 teachers, out of them only 2 teachers are full-time and the rest are part-time teachers. All the teachers are advocates of Dhaka Bar, one of the teacher is a former District Judge. Teachers mainly follow lecture method, but practice of participatory method is not rare. They interact with the students and ask questions whether the lectures are fully understandable to the students. Within the time span of 45 minutes the teachers give lectures and make some discussion.
Students: In the session of 1999-2000 of Preliminary 512 students got admitted into Central Law College. Out of them around 330 filled-up forms for the Preliminary examination and 250 students appeared in the examination. Among them 120 passed the examination.
In the session of 2000-2001 of Preliminary 400 students got admitted into Central Law College. Out of them 240 filled-up forms for Preliminary examination and 180 students appeared in the examination. Finally 85 students (42%) were passed in the Preliminary examination. 5/6 students of the total number passed in the second class, and the rest got third class. 173 students (85 + students who passed their preliminary examination before) filled-up forms for the Final examination'2002. Among them 110 appeared in the Final examination and only 35 students passed the examination, and all of them got third class.
According to the statistics given by the officials of the college, 163 students appeared in the Final examination'1999, and out of them 87 passed the examination. One student passed in the second class and all the rest passed in the third class. 255 students appeared in the Final examination'2000, and 178 passed the examination, out of them 27 students got second class and rest of the students got third class. 122 students attended the Final examination'2001 and 70 students passed the examination. Out of them 4 students passed in the second class and the rest got third class.
Examination System: Usually examinations are held at the end of the academic year, Preliminary examination at the end of the Preliminary classes, Final at the end of Final classes. The teachers take class tests and on the basis of the result of class tests 6 stipends are given to the brilliant students.
Library: Central Law College has its own library containing around 3000 books. The bulk include text books, reference books, DLR, PLD etc. The college authority buy books on an yearly basis.
Seminar, Workshop etc.: College authority sometimes arrange seminar, workshops on different issues of law to make the students aware of the latest development in the legal field. But they do not arrange moot court.
Opinion of the Officials: When talking to the researchers the officials of Central Law College appreciated the joint initiative of Bangladesh Law Commission and CIDA. They said that once the law colleges were affiliated with Dhaka University, which strictly controlled the quality of law colleges. University authority was very careful in permitting people to establish new law colleges. Later on law colleges were placed under the authority of National University, which permitted people to start law colleges without much scrutiny. From that time on a new trend to establish law colleges here and there started. The officials of Central Law College strongly said that they are against establishing law colleges here and there. They opined in favour of controlling the quality of law colleges.
Rajshashi Law College
This Law College was established on December 25, 1970. It is situated at Barokuthi of Goramara of Rajshahi city. In course of time it has become the largest law college of Rajshahi city and its adjacent area.
Infra-structure
It has its own building. In 2000 the college built its own establishment. It has 4 class rooms, one office room, one room for Principal, and one room for library. The library has around 500 books of different categories such as Bare Act, Text Books and some Law Reports.
Teaching Staffs
There are 6 full time and 3 part time teachers. A consolidated amount is given as remuneration to the full time teachers, whereas part-time teachers are remunerated on the basis of classes taken. The teachers mainly take classes by lecture method. Sometimes tutorial classes are held. Mainly the teachers of the law colleges are advocates. They should be provided with training. Acting Principal of the Rajshahi Law College Mr. Ali Akbar Pramanik told that advocates (the teachers of Law Colleges) ought to be given training about teaching methodology.
Students
Now the Rajshahi Law College has 134 students in Preliminary section and only 12 students in Final section.
In the session of 2000-2001 of Preliminary 359 students were admitted. Among those 128 students filled the forms, all of them appeared in the examination. Out of them only 17 students passed the examination. One student got second class and the rest 16 got third class.
In the session of 2000-2001 of Final, there were 28 students, all of whom filled the forms and appeared in the examination. Out of them 7 students passed and all of them got third class.
Classes and Examinations
Classes are usually held from 5 to 7.30 P.M. At the end of first year the students sit for Preliminary examination, and for Final Examination at the end of second year. Besides the year final examinations, the teachers sometimes take class tests and tutorial examinations.
Central Law College of Rajshahi
It was established in 1984. It is situated at Talaimari of Rajshahi city. It is comprised of two rooms used for only official purposes. Classes are held in the adjacent Rajshshi Ideal High School. One room of the school is used for class purpose. The College has its own tiny building with incomplete first floor spreading the rods towards sky. It has no library.
Teaching Staffs
There are 6 full time and 4 part time teachers in this college. Advocate M. Nurunnabi is the Principal of this college.
Students
This college has only 30 students. 25 are Preliminary students and 5 are Final students.
Examination
In the 2001-2002 session of Preliminary, 35 students were admitted. During the time of filling the forms another one student was allowed to do it. Finally 36 students filled the forms and all of them appeared in the examination. Only one student passed the examination and got third class.
In the session of 2000-2001 of Final there were only 4 students. All of them filled the forms and appeared in the examination. Among them 3 students passed the examination, 2 got second class and 1 got third class.
Classes and Others
In this college classes are held from 5 to 7 P.M. One room of the Rajshahi Ideal High School is used for class purpose. Other infra-structural facilities are poor. It does not get any government or other private donation.
Concluding Remarks:
We had some assumptions about law colleges. We found some of them are true. We heard that law colleges are part-time institutions with part-time teachers. We found it true and it is also substantiated by the information given by the colleges. We heard that law colleges are money making enterprise. It is not true. Infrastructure of many colleges is not good and their financial condition is instable. Many colleges do not have their own building. The teachers of the colleges are poorly remunerated. Their only source of income is tuition fees and the money given by the students during form fill-up of the Preliminary and Final examination.
Law colleges do not require any admission test, any student of any age can get admitted into law colleges. We found that 25-30% students attend the classes regularly. There is some official requirement to attend certain percentage of total classes, without which a student should not be allowed to sit for examination. But this rule is not maintained in practice. In some cases students get admitted into law colleges during the period of form-fill-up and are allowed to do the same without attending any class. Here financial consideration becomes the main consideration of the law colleges.
Some law colleges in urban centres try to make money by admitting huge number of students. But their move decline because of the emergence of private universities. Some law colleges alleged that, when students cannot pass Preliminary and Final examinations, they go to private universities and get passed and manage LL.B. (Hons) and LL.M. certificate.
The condition of law college education is deplorable in terms of some indicators like drop out rate, number of students etc. The drop out rate is very high, it ranges from 20% to 80%. Some Law Colleges have very few students. For example Brammanbaria Law College has 71 students, Joypurhat Law College has 58, Kurigram Law College has 50, Khagrachori Law College has 94, Bagerhat Law College has 79, Central Law College of Rajshahi has 30 students.
In spite of the bad condition of law colleges, some law colleges are doing better. Central Law College of Dhaka, Ideal Law College of Dhaka, Chittagong Law College, and Rajshahi Law College seem to have good academic environment. We saw a number of students attending classes of Preliminary and Final. The colleges hold regular classes and the atmosphere is enthusiastic.
1.Pass mark of LL.B. (pass course):
2. Duration of LL.B. pass course is two years. It has been made three years, but the amended rule is yet to be implemented.
3. Latest development of curriculum:
4. Is there any limit regarding the admission into the law colleges:
5. Number of Law Colleges:
6. Does Inspector of College supervise the activities of Law Colleges?
7. What initiatives have been taken to reform law colleges?
8. Is there any change/reform to law colleges effected by the National University?
9. Number of students of law colleges:
10. Is there any plan of National University to reform law colleges?
1. National University has taken decision to increase the duration of present LL.B. course. Two-year LL.B. course will be transformed into three-year course. Curriculum Committee, headed by Professor Ershadul Bari, has finalised the curriculum for three-year course. Present curriculum contains 13 papers, the new curriculum will provide 20 papers. As soon as the Curriculum Committee will send the final report to National University, it will start to approve the same, which will then be applicable to the students of all the law colleges. Md. Mosaddeque Hossain, Section Officer of the Curriculum Development and Evaluation Centre, told that if everything goes in right direction, three-year course will be implemented from coming session.
National University authority has plan to open a separate law section, headed by a full-fledged professor, which will monitor the activities of the law colleges all over Bangladesh. It will ensure the development of infra-structure and library of the law colleges. Teaching methodology, curriculum, examination system--all will fall within the jurisdiction of the law section.
2. Pass mark of LL.B. examinations is 36%, second class 45%, and first class 60%.
3. Students do not require any admission test to get admitted into law colleges.
4. There is no age limit, any student of any age can get admitted into any law college.
5. There is no bar regarding number, law colleges may admit any number of students into their institutions.
6. Under the present dispensation Inspector of College is empowered to monitor the activities of law colleges. Generally the Inspector goes to a college (before its opening) and verify whether the college has fulfilled the preconditions prescribed by the National University. Inspector is overburdened with many activities, so he does not have sufficient time to monitor the activities of law colleges. Only before opening of a college and in case of any complaint filed against a college, Inspector manages time and verify the veracity of the complaint.
7. There are 70 law colleges in all over Bangladesh. We gave a list of 69 law colleges. To this list Dewan Idris Ali Law College, Savar will be added.
8. National university has abolished referred system from law colleges. Students will no longer get the benefit of referred system.
9. After registration a student has to pass Preliminary Examination within 2 years and Final Examination within 2 years. If any student fails to pass the above mentioned examination within 2 years, s/he has to register again.
10. LL.B. is a professional degree, National University has no plan to make it academic.
11. Currently there is no separate law section to monitor the activities of law colleges. Assistant Controller A. K.M. Nurul Alam Talukder looks into the affairs of Preliminary and Final examinations of law colleges. Md. Mosaddeque Hossain, Section officer of the Curriculum Development and Evaluation Centre, takes care of the development of LL.B. curriculum. The Inspection Department of Colleges has been empowered to look after the activities of the law colleges, but it does not have sufficient time to monitor the activities of law colleges.
Syllabus Committee of National University
For reviewing the present syllabus of LL.B. course under National University a Syllabus Committee was formed on 17.03.2003. Professor M. Ershadul Bari was the chairman of the Committee. Other members of the Committee are--Professor Taslima Mansoor, Ex-Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Dhaka, Khandoker Shamsuddin Mahmood, Principal, Central Law College, Dhaka, Professor Md. Fyezzuddin, Ex-Chairman, Department of Law, University of Rajshahi, Professor Abdul Karim Khan, Ex-Dean, Faculty of Law and Sharia, Kushtia University, Mohiuddin Khaled, Ex-Chairman, Department of Law, University of Chittagong, and Barrister Shafiq Ahmed, Principal, City Law College, Dhaka. Among the members Khandoker Shamsuddin Mahmood, Mohiuddin Khaled, and Barrister Shahfiq Ahmed did not work. The rest 4 members have finalised the new syllabus under the chairmanship of Dr. M. Ershadul Bari.
Now the the LL.B. two-year course has 13 subjects. Three-year course will have 20 subjects under the new syllabus. As soon as the Syllabus Committee will formally submit the new syllabus to the authority of National University, it will take appropriate measures to implement the same.
(Source of information: Md. Mossaddeque Hossain, Section Officer, Curriculum Development and Evaluation Centre, National University)
[1]. 23 Law Colleges sent their questionnaires back. Most of the questions have been tabulated on the basis of information given by 23 Law Colleges. But some Law Colleges did not give full account of the data sought. The researchers physically visited 8 law colleges of Chittagong, Rajshahi and Dhaka. Among 8 law colleges 5 are common from which the researchers collected information and they also sent the questionnaires back. When the total number exceeds 23, the researchers added the account of colleges they visited. Here we have stated the full account of 24 Law Colleges. 21 out of 23 Law Colleges gave full account of the data sought. We added full account of another 3 colleges which we visited and from where we collected information.
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