The parent body of The Indian Law Society, one of the most respected law colleges in the country, has entered its centenary year. Celebrations have begun at the premier law institute and will continue throughout March. Speaks to Vyjayanthi Joshi, former Principal and current Director (Educational & Administration), indianexpress.com About the future plans and challenges of the Institute.
A few years ago, you said that the goal of the college is to achieve autonomy before the completion of 100 years.
Yes, we expected to do so but (of the University Grants Commission) the NAAC accreditation process for the second round got delayed. We had an A grade in the first cycle and then due to some administrative challenges and delays, the second cycle of accreditation did not happen until 2019. Later COVID-19 The pandemic happened, and now the new National Education Policy (NEP) has come into effect. Several new options have been made available. You have to become a degree-granting college or merge with a university. The canvas has now widened, and after 100 years of legal education, it makes no sense to simply obtain autonomous status. So we now aspire to a higher position. We are studying all these options, autonomy with NEP, what is going to happen etc. Whichever option gives the most freedom in academic matters would be the best, and in my opinion, the best option would be to get university status. We are currently weighing the pros and cons of each option as it will have implications for academic freedom and finances. We have to calculate everything and see the best option.
You currently offer a lot of certification courses for professionals. Are there any plans to offer full time courses for working professionals?
As far as full time courses are concerned, we cannot offer them as we are affiliated to a university and we have to abide by its rules. According to the UGC rules, even the Indian Law Society cannot issue this certificate. For now our hands are tied. That’s why we offer certificate and diploma programs, which although valuable – one has to admit – degrees are not. However, we have decided to start an online distance learning program. We already offer certificate programs; They were all in offline mode. reason of coronavirus Pandemic, we were forced to move them online. Now we have decided to expand this into a distance learning program where we can now offer a range of courses and anyone around the world can enroll.
In terms of physical infrastructure, what will be the development in the coming years?
We are proposing to upgrade our sports complex as well as classroom teaching. We have a dedicated building, but we find the space insufficient for it, as we have started too many activities. There has been an increase in the number of full-time teachers; We need more meeting rooms.
What did you learn from Covid?
In the first year of the pandemic…we kept responding to the situation [as it evolved], It was beyond imagination. In the second year, we took proactive steps. The biggest lesson was that we need to invest in technology. It was something we never thought about. In future, even though classes will be in physical mode, there will be some online learning and communication, which you will have to accept. It is an essential part of our life. We have to learn to be more adaptable to it.
What are the challenges facing legal students today?
A lot changes with time. Technology is creating challenges. Artificial intelligence is taking the place of lawyers on the one hand. At the same time, it is a unique challenge where, on the one hand, face-to-face interactions with customers are important, but they have to work in cyberspace where they have to work with co-workers they have never seen before. had never happened. years so many times. This will be a big challenge. For example, being present in a judge’s chamber online… is very challenging and requires a different approach and skill to achieve. Another challenge is that today there are different types of law institutions—national law schools…, colleges supported by each state, and private universities and institutions. The type of education, level of exposure, and challenges will be different for each student… Education institutions and students need to consider all of these in addition to competition.
The New Law class was introduced in Bombay in 1903 by JR Gharpure and PB Singhe as a new beginning in legal education. Five years later, it was transferred to the Ferguson College law class, but within a few weeks it had to be closed and the more than 100 students enrolled were left in the lurch. Fifteen years later, on March 4, the Indian Law Society was inaugurated and in 1924, ILS Law College was started as Poona Law College. 154 acres of land was acquired in what is now known as Law College Road.