There’s no scandal at LDC

The Sunday Monitor ran a story with a screaming headline on the front page “LDC in new scandal over student marks. There is no such a thing as a ‘scandal’ at the Law Development Centre (LDC). We would like to put the record straight as follows:

Following approval of the results by the Management Committee on February 5, LDC communicated results to individual students and commenced its internal processes which include: receiving and handling students complaints and queries, administrative reviews, verification of marks by students and appeals as provided for by the respective Rules Governing the Bar Course. We also gave opportunities to students who had supplementaries (retakes) in some subjects to do them and we conducted special examinations.

As part of our internal processes, we conducted administrative reviews and have taken action on complaints raised by the students. We resolved issues of missing marks, reviewed written examinations for Lira Campus (Land Transactions) and our Academic Registrar has given attention and advice to students either individually or collectively. The students have also sat supplementaries in categories B and C subjects. All these internal processes are ongoing simultaneously. 

LDC is not in any way targeting to malign any students. We are determined to ensure that we provide the right services without any fear or favour. It is not true that we are giving preference to Lira and Mbarara Campuses. Some students from the Mbarara campus were invited for a meeting with the Director and Academic Registrar to verify some of their oral examination results physically from marksheets.

Kampala Campus students in this case were not affected at all which is why they have not been invited for verification. We stress that we handle all our students equally with no preferential treatment to any Campus.

Also, the matter that has been going round on social media claiming that LDC changed students’ marks yet they had passed is a wrong narrative. As part of our internal processes, the Examination Appeals Committee of the Management Committee directed that there should be a review of 48 scripts following successful appeals, and it approved review of Mbarara Oral Examination results in Family Law Practice and Land Transactions.

We appreciate that bad news travels faster than wind but after the reviews there are 56 students whose results were reviewed positively and confirmed that they had passed. The ones making news are the students who failed the examinations and we went an extra mile to show them their answer scripts. The Director convened a meeting with the affected students who are from Mbarara campus and explained to them issues affecting their results. They were given an opportunity to look at their physical marksheets to individually confirm their results. Review of marks is part of our quality control system even where no query or complaint has been raised.

When results are approved by the Management Committee and shared on respective students’ portals for confirmation and review, it does not mean that we have released them to the public. It implies that we have given them ‘provisional’ results, subject to reviews after receiving complaints, queries and our internal review processes. The final results will be released after March 22.

It is normal for an institution to carry out its internal processes and ask students to review their marks before official confirmation of the results. This is what we are involved in right now; to ensure that all complaints, queries, appeals, errors etc are dealt with. This practice is even done in universities where an institution publishes results on students’ portals and students are asked to raise any queries before final submission to the Senate for review and approval for graduation. (Our Rules have been amended from 2023 to adopt the practice of universities).

After completion of all processes, LDC will publish the graduation list which will reflect all students who qualify for graduation.

A student is not eligible to graduate until and unless he or she appears on the graduation list. It is right that a student graduates from LDC only when they have met the minimum criteria and with the rightful results.

We urge students and stakeholders to wait for the outcome of our ongoing examination results management processes and desist from relying on rumours and falsehoods. For any clarity, we encourage students and stakeholders to engage with LDC.

Mr Frank Obonyo is Senior Public Relations Officer, Law Development Centre.