…as tuition fee increases from TT$98,366 to TT$101,066

ASPIRING lawyers attending the Hugh Wooding Law School and the University of Guyana, on Tuesday, said the decision to offer scholarships to eligible Guyanese desirous of acquiring their Legal Education Certificate (LEC) from the Trinidad-based law school was most welcomed.

Ahead of a meeting with the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams at his Carmichael Street Office, the budding lawyers told reporters that the scholarships were being made available at a time when Guyanese students attending the Hugh Wooding Law School continue to face extreme financial difficulties in their pursuit of their Legal Education Certificate.

Olivia Best, Vice President of the Guyana Jurisdiction Committee (GJC) – a group that represents Law students at the Hugh Wooding Law School – told reporters that the Government’s offer was being made at a time when the annual tuition fee for first year students has jumped from TT$98,366 to TT$101,066 – more than three million Guyana dollars. The annual fee coupled with living expenses create a major financial burden for students pursuing their LEC, Best said.

“Added to that (the TT$101,066), you also have the living expenses. Let’s talk about your rent, the average Guyanese student in Trinidad and Tobago will pay between TT$2,500 and TT$3,000, when you convert that to Guyana’s rate that would be around $90,000 a month…Apart from that you still have to consider the living expenses as a student, and on average, a student spends between TT$1,500 and TT$2,000 per month; you flip that into Guyana dollars, that would be around $45,000 to $60,000 a month. So when you total all of the expenses for one year, it is nothing less than GUY$5M and that is just for one year,” the GJC Vice President detailed.

Over the two-year period during which the law programme is completed, students are estimated to spend approximately GUY$10M.

“I know countless persons who have cried tears because they could not find the money to pay for Hugh Wooding Law School because it is not an easy task,” Best added.
Though many Guyanese students excel at the Trinidad-based Law School, the GJC Vice President said there are times when they are unable to function properly because of the financial struggles they experience.

The issuance of scholarships, she believes, will ease the financial burden, if not for most students, some students, and for that, the committee is thankful. “I am grateful that the ministry, along with the Attorney General, they are here and they are willing to hear our pleas and hear our cries because this has been going on for many years. So I am very thankful for that and I am also thankful for the scholarships,” Best told reporters while sitting in the presence of her colleagues and the Attorney General.

Best and the majority of the other students that met with the Attorney General on Tuesday are entering their final year of study at the Trinidad-based Law school.
It was on Sunday, that the Government, through the Ministry of the Presidency, Department of Public Service, announced that it will be offering a limited number of scholarships to eligible persons desirous of acquiring their LEC at the Hugh Wooding Law School for the period 2019/2020.

Ahead of the meeting with the students, the Attorney General said while the announcement was made by the Ministry of the Presidency, Department of Public Service, it was he, who had been pushing for scholarships to be offered, adding that Government is cognizant of the challenges students face.

He, however, declined to disclose the exact number of scholarships to be offered to eligible Guyanese desirous of acquiring their LEC.

In order to be eligible for this scholarship, an applicant is required to have a Bachelor of Law Degree with a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.3. However, while a Bachelor of Law Degree is a requirement, it must have been obtained within the last five years by persons 35 years old or younger. Applicants are also required to have an offer of acceptance from the Hugh Wooding Law School for the 2019/2020 academic year.

“Present students at the Hugh Wooding Law School must have passes for the first year of studies with at least three courses passed with grade A,” the ministry further detailed.
This is the third major intervention the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Government has made for law students since taking office in May, 2015.

Minister Williams said though there have been some hiccups with the payment of the 25 per cent economic costs for students at the Hugh Wooding Law School for the period 2018/2019 because the Ministry’s Principal Assistant Secretary (Finance) failed to pay it, other payments were made since the approval was granted in 2016. He was keen on pointing out that the 25 economic costs for all Guyanese students attending the Hugh Wooding Law School have already been paid for the period 2019/2020.