House of Representatives has urged the Council of Legal Education to put the Nigerian Law School fees increment from N296,000 to N476,000 in abeyance.
This was sequel to the adoption of a motion moved by the minority leader, Hon Kingsley Chinda and presented by Hon Ginger Owusibe from Abia State.
Moving the motion, Owusibe explained that the function of the Council of Legal Education to oversee legal education in Nigeria includes deciding the cost of tuition and other services rendered to students of the Nigerian Law School.
He said in exercising its functions, the Council of Legal Education has approved a 60 per cent increase in Nigerian law school fees from N296,000 to N476,000 for the 2023/2024 Bar Part II academic session.
The lawmaker noted that the 2023/2024 Bar Part II Academic session commenced in January 2024 with no time given to prospective students to raise the balance.
Owusibe said: „Unless immediate steps are taken to strike a balance between the Council’s need to provide quality services and the prospective students’ abilities to afford an increment, the country will see a high decrease in the number of Nigerian law school students, resultant decrease in the number of lawyers in the next Call to Bar Ceremony, therefore leading to a higher national unemployment rate as those unable to attend law school cannot work as legal practitioners.“
Adopting the motion, the House mandated its Committee on Tertiary Education and Services to explore solutions to the issue at hand and report back within two weeks for further legislative action as time is of the essence.
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