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ABOUT US
THE LL.B PROJECT AND GHANA LAW TIMES
The LL.B Project comprises a community of seventeen (17) African lawyers who are passionate
about expanding access to legal education, enriching classroom curricular with law firm
mentorship programs and increasing access to justice through pro bono. The LL.B Project has
written to the Chief Justice and the Attorney General to make infrastructure improvement for law
schools a key priority. Every year the Project team offers public seminars on effective preparation
for law entrance exams and interviews; the objective is to demystify and promote the study of law.
Ghana Law Times (Voice of the Legal Profession) is the legal publication which analyzes legal
issues in Ghana and the Commonwealth.
ETHICS
We are committed to observing high ethical standards in our annual law seminars and
tutorials. We can neither condone nor assist with any exam malpractice. Rather we shall
expose unethical acts and help public authorities to improve access as well as standards over
time.
CONSULTANTS
Law entrance exams held in Africa are one of his pet subjects. He has researched the subject
ardently, and is a leading expert and regional tutor to candidates since 2007. His assistance to
the LL.B Project extends to other West African law projects especially in Ghana and Liberia.
We on the LL.B Project seldom congregate our students around past questions.
For one thing, these questions aren’t repeated. For another, the Faculty
customarily picks up issues occurring tu le monde — which we, as much as they,
have access to. Having applied ourselves in exam study groups over the exams,
we are of the opinion that, efficient preparation culminates in superior
performance and success. We started the annual tutorial many years ago on that
solid philosophy and our success proved us right.
The current format of the exams was created in the year 2000. To our knowledge
the exam has not received independent review despite its numerous flaws. The
LL.B Project and the Ghana Law Times (GLT) have followed the exams over the
years and attempted such a review.
Take a very critical look at the instructions issued to candidates who sat for FLEE
paper 2000 (the very first FLEE paper). The instructions to the candidates read,
(see bullet point 1) “Write essays on ANY TWO (2) of the questions below”.
There were actually only two (2) questions on the exam sheet for the entire
duration of the exam! What is the point? Did this flaw in the instruction,
negatively affect candidates, and the outcome of the exam? Yes, it did. Our
research revealed that some candidates were misled. Some actually thought more
questions were going to be provided later, only to discover much, much later to
their chagrin that, that was not the case. The problem lied in poor proofreading of
the instruction written by the Faculty itself. The correct instruction should actually
have been: “Write essays on the two (2) questions below” not “ANY TWO (2)”.
Now proceed to paragraph two (bullet point 2) of that same paper! The instruction
reads: “Answer the two questions on separate books” This instruction obviously
should have read, “Answer the two questions in separate booklets” (emphasis
ours). Admittedly, some grammatical blunders are fiendishly inevitable, however,
when the Faculty is emphatic that “proper use of language” is a basis of assessing
student essays, (and we support it) then basic grammatical slips on the part of the
Faculty itself, is unfortunately a disquieting flaw.
Again, take a critical look at the FLEE 2003 paper. Notice the misspelling of the
word “First” as “Firs”. Clearly, proof-reading was again a problem.
Sometimes the answer booklets are actually been described as ‘books’ (see 2000-
2003,) and then as ‘booklets’ (see 2004 and later 2005-8). This routine
inconsistency can be alleviated by the adoption of one or the other. Actually,
“booklets” is most appropriate. The 2010 uses “booklets”. Respectfully, we think
having elected to use “booklets” consistency should follow. We however noticed
that “in separate books” is at times underlined and at other times not. Obviously,
the impression any serious outsider will form will not be a flattering one.
Looking at the FLEEs of 2004 and 2010, we observed the following expression:
“INSTRUCTION TO CANDIDATES” and observed, however, the use of the
expression, “INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES” for the FLEEs of 2000,
2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009. Obviously, the use of
“INSTRUCTION TO CANDIDATES” was incorrect; as more than one
instruction was expressed on the FLEE papers.
The use of inelegant and arbitrary fonts and font sizes is another seminal issue;
either the chosen fonts have tended to be too small (see 2000 and 2001) or simply
too large (see 2003, 2005). Again, the evidence points to lack of consistency and
inattention to detail.
There are other problems to do with erratic exam instructions issued to FLEE
candidates. For instance, in 2006, FLEE candidates were instructed not to write
their names or personal details anywhere in their answer booklets. The point of
significance is that, such a vital instruction was absent in 2000, 2001, 2002 2003,
2004, 2005 and particularly in 2008. Does it mean that in those years it was ok to
scribble names and index numbers? Whatever the reason, we do not think erratic
instructions serve any great purpose.
These observations in no way whittle away our confidence in the Faculty. Future
FLE exams and the admission interviews will in our opinion get much better;
partly on account of independent reviews by the LL.B Project and partly because
we believe that the Law Faculty will take appreciable steps to ensure a less flawed
exam.
Dickson’s 50 techniques are based on his ten (10) sub-techniques outlined below;
each of which he subsequently discusses in five components. They are based on
his annual successful and extensive tutoring experience with candidates! The
philosophy behind them has been proven time and again, and vindicated by the
successes of our candidates. To get their full benefit, you have to use them in the
manner he suggests and you will exceed your expectation. Now, lets’s roll…..
“I like to think that the annual FLEE tutorials are really more
fun-filled and info-loaded than our handouts; probably one
reason why you need to attend my speaking engagements”.
- O. B. DICKSON
SUPPLEMENTARY ADVICE
• Always proofread your work