Maltese Law Students Fighting Dean’s ‘Hypocritical’ Decision For Them To Sit For Online Exams
Maltese law students have publicly criticsed their own faculty’s dean for insisting that they take online exams at home rather than assignments.
The Malta Law Students’ Society GħSL said there has been heavy opposition from students to this decision, but when discussing the matter with Minster of Education Owen Bonnici, faculty dean Ivan Mifsud said that “students cannot stamp their feet and dictate…it’s simply not on”.
The students warned that this amounted to extreme hypocrisy from the dean, who had himself said that “the law course is for those intent on joining the legal profession, for those who… are ready to read for a degree in law (and not just cram for exams)”.
“This statement, although creditable, requires a balance of responsibilities between the students and the Faculty,” they said. “It is not right expecting a higher standard from the students when falling short from providing them with the necessary resources and circumstances encompassing their learning environment.”
“It is important to point out that the students’ learning environment was already in a less than desirable condition: considering that students are not able to access any physical libraries to conduct research and study quietly in.”
“This added with the fact that, as is everyone else, they are stuck at home for weeks on end, their mental health is more fragile than ever. Shockingly, instead of empathising with the students’ difficulties, they opt to dismiss their legitimate concerns, and overburden them.”
All educational institutions have been forced to close in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, while A-Levels have been postponed to September and O-Levels cancelled altogether, University exams are still scheduled to go ahead this June.
A law student told Lovin Malta that very few lectures are being held online, sometimes fewer than three a week, with students often notified a day in advance whether lectures will be held or not.
“I don’t know how they can impose exams as normal even though we’re four weeks behind on lectures,” they said.
Meanwhile, a former student has warned that online exams won’t be fair across the board because those students with connections to practicing lawyers will be able to ask them for help while sitting for the exam.
GħSL said that, after consulting with law students, it had formally proposed replacing the usual June exams with alternative modes of assessment, namely assignments. The students’ argument is that online exams pose an “extraordinary” amount of added stress on students, are the subject of countless practicality issues and are an “unnecessary and disproportionate” burden.
It said a group of student representatives were originally supposed to vote on this matter together with the Dean and the Heads of Department, but that the faculty ended up imposing take-home exams without giving the students a vote.
The student organisation said the ball is now in the faculty’s court to change their minds and “act together with the students rather than against them”.
What do you think of the faculty’s decision?
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