The Gazette 1976

GAZETTE

SEP T EM BER 1976

9.1 Following on the great influx of Apprentices during the last few years the work load imposed on the Society's Staff and on the Education Committee has increased greatly. As soon as the Education Advisory Committee had been formed the Education Committee delegated to it the task of giving primary coasideration to the arrangements for the Society's New Education System and in particular the establish- ment of the Society's Professional Law School in 1978. subject to the over-riding control of the Education Committee. 9.2 The Education .Committee itself has concerned itself primarily with the present system of Education and in doing so has continued its policy of regular Meetings with the University Law Faculties. The Deans of the Faculties have been of considerable assistance to the Society in accepting large numbers of Apprentices for the Special Courses given in the Universities but in the year under review the Universities were unable to provide places for all the Applicants and some Apprentices had to be postponed until the Academic Year 1976/77. Happily, the Universities were in the Current Year able to take all those who had been postponed from the previous year and also to accommodate all those who had been Apprenticed before the 1st of October, 1976. 9.3 The number of Candidates presenting themselves for Apprenticeship after the 1st October 1975, was greater than that which had been anticipated by the Society and suggests that University Graduates, finding other employment outlets closed to them, had turned to Apprenticeship instead. 9.4 The Committee has kept in particular review the situation in the Law Faculty in University College, Galway, which the Society has for some years considered to be unsatisfactory, particularly in relation to Staffing. Following the referral to the Higher Education Authority of the request from University College, Galway, for additional Staffing in the Law Faculty the Chairman and Director General attended upon the Higher Education Authority to support the request from U.C.G. No announcement has yet been made as to whether the additional Staffing will be approved. The Society has not therefore been able to see its way to change its position that it will not recognise the U.C.G. Law Degrees as sufficient for the Society's purposes after 1978. 9.5 The Committee is particularly concerned at the high failure rates in recent Examinations which appear to suggest that the Educational requirements for entry to Apprenticeship may have been too low in recent years. Analysis of the results shows a disturbing trend in that Candidates who have received Exemptions in a number of Subjects in the Examinations appear to have a poor pass rate on repeating the Examinations in the other Subjects. 9.6 The Committee received representations from its Examiners that they were under continuing pressure from Candidates who had failed in the Examinations to review their marks and discuss their papers with them. The Committee's ruling in relation to this matter was that no Candidates failing an Examination on the first occasion should be entitled to a re-check or advice but that if a Candidate had failed a particular Examination three times the Examiners'advice in relation to that particular Candidate might be sought. Where a Candidate has failed a particular Subject in an Examination on a number of occasions the advice of the Examiner may be sought. 9.7 The work of the Committee is onerous, particularly as Members tend to be the recipients of representations made by various parties in relation to the progress or otherwise of Apprentices and because of the growing number of Applications from Apprentices requesting some favourable treatment or other. In many cases these Applications are pointless because the Committee is operating within the stringent terms of the Solicitors Act and has no power to grant the favours requested. The Committee would be grateful if Members of the Profession would check the provisions of the Act to see if the Committee is in fact empowered to grant the favour requested before making representations to Members of the Committee.

E DUCA T I ON COMM I T T EE

John F. Buckley,

Chairman

Adrian P. Bourke Maurice R. Curran Joseph L. Dundon Roderick D. O'Donnell James W. O'Donovan

John F. Buckley, Chairman

10.1 The Education Advisory Committee was established under the provisions of the Statutory Instru- ment bringing the Society's New Education System into operation and was appointed in December of 1975. It is composed of four Members of the Education Committee of the Society, one Representative of the Society's Lecturers and Examiners, Dr. Bryan McMa h on of the Law Faculty University College, Cork, an Apprentice and two ordinary Members. By agreement with the Education Committee the Advisory Committee has confined its activities to matters concerned with the introduction of the new Education System and has not involved itself in advising on the old system. 10.2 The Committee has met monthly and in addition had two Special Meetings in the month of August on the occasion of the visit of Mr. Kevin O'Leary of the Legal Workshop of the Australian National University at Canberra to the Society. The chief concern of the Committee throughout the year has been the establishment of the Society's new professional course which will commence in 1978 and it was to that end that Mr. O'Leary was invited to meet the Society to discuss the operation of the Legal Workshop at Canberra which is similar in concept to the Society's Professional Law School and for Mr. O'Leary to advise generally on the Society's proposals. Much valuable information and assistance has been received by the Society from Mr. O'Leary and following his visit the Committee recommended to the Council that Mr. Harry Sexton be appointed as a full time Education Officer with responsibility to assist in the establishment of the new course and that he should visit and participate in the operation of the Legal Workshop at Canberra and visit similar Schools in other Australian Cities. Mr. Sexton's visit to Australia is planned to commence in mid-October.

EDUCAT I ON ADV I SORY COMM I T T EE

J o hn F. Buckley,

Chairman

Adrian P. Bourke Maurice R. Curran D r. Bryan McMahon David Moloney Roderick D . O'Donnell Brian K. Overend Henry Sexton Laurence Shields

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