National level common entrance test to study law to strat soon

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, May 9, 2007

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is set to introduce a common entrance test for students who want to study five-year Bachelor of Arts degree in Law in the national law institutes across the country. While the University Grants Commission (UGC) has formed a committee led by Professor Mool Chand Shrama, the commission’s Vice Chairman, the committee consists of MHRD Joint Secretary Sunil Kumar and the heads of seven national law institutes, including Vice Chancellor M.P. Singh of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS).
The committee is presently busy drafting the modalities of the common entrance test for students who would be seeking admission in the seven national institutes, including Gujarat National Law University, National Law Institute University (Bhopal), National Law School of India University (Bangalore), National Law University (Jodhpur), WBNUJS, Hidayatullah National Law University (Raipur) and Hyderabad-based National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR). “Though I am personally not looking into it, UGC is in the process of starting a national level common entrance examination for students seeking admission in law schools,” UGC chairman Professor Sukhdeo Thorat said.
The UGC, however, is yet to decid what the common entrance should be called. The decision till now is to have a centrallised counselling for rank holders, following which individual law schools can send call letters to qualifying students as is done by the IIMs after CAT results are declared. While the next stage for admisison could be participation in a group discussion, the committtee is still yet to decide on this model. “We still have some time in our hand to fine tune it,” said Professor Balraj Chauhan, director of the Bhopal-based university.
He infomred that the move was being taken as a Supreme Court judgement urged all national law schools to have a common entrance test so that students do not have to sit for separate entracnce tests at different law schools. “We are also trying to see if upcoming law schools can be brought under the ambit of the test. Our aim is to start this entrance test in 2008 as students seek admission for the next academic session. Since specailsiation in law has become a lucatrive career option, we will be able to get the best of talents only if we have a centralised exam,” Professor Chauhan added.
The special commite will be holding a meeting end of this month to decide if other law schools like Symbiosis Society’s Law College, Amity Law School, ILS Law College (Pune) and Tamil Nadu-based Dr Ambedkar Law University, National University for Advanced Legal Studies, Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Ram Manohar Lohia Rashtriya Vidhi Sansthan and the Chanakya Naional Law University, besides some state colleges can be brought under the exam’s umbrella.
While different law schools also follow different syllabus, the committee is in the process of designing a common syllabus for the entrance test, including both objective and subjective questions, etsing students’ skills in general scince, English, general ability, legal aptitutde and IQ. “We are keeping in mind that students sititng for the exam would be Higher Secondary pass outs or those appered in Class 12. We would ensure that areas covered in the common entrace test is not out of bounds for them,” said Chauhan, who is also responsible for forming the exam syllabus.
According to available satisics, over while 2.5 lakh students enrol for BA Ll.B every year but only around 700 study in national law institutes. A section of committee members belive they are successful in bringing other national law schools under the test’s umbrella, students would have to face less harrasment.

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