Pulse, the student based organisation, said in a press conference today that “due to a clash between the General Entry Requirements for University and the Special Entry Requirements for the Faculty of Laws, prospective Law students would not be able to apply for the ‘Legal Studies’ subject.”
The conference, which was held in front of the G.F. Abela Junior College, was addressed by Matthew Zerafa the President of Pulse, Clive Gerada the President of GhSL and Paul Caruana Turner the Student Representative on the Faculty of Laws’ Board of Studies and Pulse’s spokesperson on this issue.
It was explained that several prospective post-secondary students had brought to Pulse’s attention an issue regarding the newly-introduced ‘Legal Studies’ subject offered at an Intermediate Level in both the Junior College and the Gozo Sixth Form.
The representatives from Pulse said that the subject, as described in the College’s Look Before You Leap handbook, “introduces the concept of ‘legislation’ and its effect on human society with a particular focus on the implementation of law and the organisation of the Maltese court system.”
“However,” they said, “due to revised course entry requirements to enter into force this year, post-secondary students wishing to pursue a Law course at the University of Malta actually cannot choose Legal Studies as one of their subjects during their post- secondary period.”
“This is due to the fact that in order to enter the mentioned course as of 2015, one would require:
An Advanced Level Grade at C or better in both English and Maltese
An Intermediate Level Grade at C or better in either French or Italian
Intermediate Level Grades at C or better in one subject from Group 2 and another subject from Group 3.”
Pulse pointed out that “this change means that Legal Studies, further to not being part of the Course Entry Requirements, will also end up not being chosen by prospective Law students, due to a clash between the General and Special entry requirements for University.
“In our opinion, this defies the logical aim of the subject, which has the possibility of potentially helping hundreds of students prepare for their University course.”
Pulse went on to say that it “calls upon the Ministry for Education, responsible for the Gozo Sixth Form and the Junior College, as well as the University of Malta and the MATSEC Board, to engage in discussions with all stakeholders on this vital issue, including students and their representatives.”
“We hope that a common ground can be reached and that common sense will prevail, so that Law students wishing to pursue a career in Law would be able to benefit from this subject which gives them a valuable insight on the Maltese justice system and principles of legislation,” the Pulse representatives concluded.