UL will admit law students in 2018
Rumours that the University of Limpopo (UL) does not admit new law students for the 2018 academic year were refuted by the institution.
POLOKWANE – This follows media reports last year that the law faculty might be closed down after a report was released by the Council of Higher Education (CHE) in April 2017 on standards and accreditation of law faculties nationally.
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At the undergraduate level, UL offers a four-year LLB programme and an LLB extended curriculum which takes five years to complete.
The Director of the council’s National Standards and Review unit, Olivia Mokgatle, said last year the council found various issues relating to staff, the curriculum, teaching and learning assessment that were not up to standard at various universities. These institutions were requested to put measures in place to address the issues in the institutional review reports and an improvement plan had to be submitted within six months of receipt of the report.
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Institutions were required to report to the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) from time to time on progress made in respect of improvement to the programme.
“We issued a notice of withdrawal of accreditation as the issues threatened the quality of the programme and were putting the programme at risk,” Mokgatle said.
Dr Siyanda Makaula, Senior Manager at the CHE’s Directorate for National Standards and Reviews told BONUS the reasons for a possible withdrawal of accreditation of programmes at the university are confidential and he could not elaborate.
He said the university has until May to report on changes and improvements and the faculty will then be reviewed again before the CHE decides on the way forward. He said a swift decision will be taken by committees involved.
Makaula said any decision taken will not have an adverse effect on students currently enrolled as they will continue with their studies even if the accreditation is withdrawn. The university may at a later stage re-apply for accreditation if problems are solved.
Kgalema Mohuba, Marketing and Communication Executive Director of UL, said they have admitted students both qualifying for LLB mainstream and the extended programme. “The university is in consultation with CHE regarding matters pertaining to the LLB programme. As the University of Limpopo we are confident we have rectified all concerns were raised in the report,” Mohuba said.
