TWENTY-FIVE of the 27 Guyanese students currently attending the Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) in Trinidad and Tobago paid a visit last week to Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Basil Williams, raising several issues and concerns about their education in relation to tuition, discrimination and disadvantages faced in pursuit of their Legal Education Certificate.Secretary to the group Sherry Hewitt raised the issue with the Attorney General about fee payment, while other students raised concerns of immigration, course content and lateness of the Guyana students list to the Trinidad Immigration. The number one issue is tuition fees which amounts to TT$65,792 (Gy$2.2 million or USD$11,000) per student. The students are now required to pay the full tuition at the beginning of the September semester each year as opposed to 50% in September and 50% in January of the following year.
The students also requested help from the Attorney General to address the courses of Family Practice and Procedure, Legal Drafting and Interpretation for the second year law students in relation to the unique Roman Dutch system of land titling in Guyana as opposed to Trinidad laws.
These two courses have a high percentage of failure hence the students’ desire a tutor who has knowledge of Guyana laws. The issue of immigration was also highlighted because students were turned back by the Trinidad immigration due to the late submission of the Guyana students list to Trinidad.
The Attorney General shared with the students how different it was when he studied at the Hugh Wooding Law School. He empathised with them promising to explore the help they needed to address the issue of fee payments and the accommodation of more Guyanese students since the top 25 students are selected out of a total of 80.
The students explained that the issue is not one of space since six Trinidadian students were placed in the Guyanese class after the academic year had commenced. The AG also gave a commitment to address the course content issue with Mr Sheldon Mc Donald at the University of Guyana.
The students are requesting scholarships for their final year with the understanding that they would serve for a contracted period. Of the 27 current students attending the HWLS, only one is the recipient of a Public Service Ministry scholarship.