The Gazette 1978

GAZETTE

OCTOBER 1978

Director of Education is endeavouring to persuade the Department of Education to make student grants available to solicitors' apprentices but so far no decision has been handed down by the Department in reply to his representations. 8.10 The Society has arranged loans for apprentices with the major associated banks and is providing some scholarships at the expense of the Society. In addition, the Society is subsidising the costs of the law course to the extent of approximately one-fifth which the Committee considers illustrates the commitment of the profession to the future.

9.1 This Committee, in conjunction with the twelve sub-committees set up to deal with the course content continued to work well throughout the year. 9.2 Richard Woulfe was appointed Director of Education with the title Professor and took up duty on 1 May 1978. The Education Advisory Committee and the Education Committee believe the Society has been extremely fortunate to obtain the services of Professor Woulfe who has already made a significant contribution to the new Education Programme working in tandem with Laurence Sweeney, the Director of Training. 9.3 Harry Sexton, our first Education Officer, went into private practice during the . summer and we wish him every success. Harry made an invaluable contribution to the development of the new training programme for which we offer him our sincere thanks. Brendan Twomey has been appointed to succeed Harry and we wish him well. 9.4 The consultants preparing the course material received training in teaching methods during the year and at present a series of one-day courses are being held for recently-qualified solicitors which serve the additional purpose of being a "trail run" in the training methods to be adopted in the courses in the new law school. 9.5 I would like to thank all the members of the Advisory Committee and the sub- committees for their tremendous dedication and application throughout the year. 9.6 It was clear from the International Bar Association Conference held recently in Australia that the profession in most Common Law countries had lost control of the training for their own profession through allowing the universities to take over the vocational teaching function and by over-relianpe on Government funds, which were more readily obtained through university sources than otherwise. 9.7 Our first training course under the new system will commence next February and all involved in the Society's educational process look forward to this event eagerly, although with awareness of the difficulties involved. 9.8 I had the honour in my capacity as Chairman of the Education Committee and Education Advisory Committee to deliver a paper entitled "Recent Developments in the Training of Intending Solicitors in the Republic of Ireland" in Sydney to the Committee on Legal Education and Continuing Education of the International Bar Association and visited the College of Law in Sydney and the Legal Workshop in Canberra during and after the Conference. 9.9 It was fascinating to learn that in Japan there is a National Law Examination annually for anyone who wishes to become a Judge or Public Prosecutor or to go into private practice. In 1977, 29,214 persons sat this examination but only 465 passed — a pass rate of 1.6%. A Tokyo Judge who spoke at the meeting in Sydney said: "Though arguments are made against such an extreme difficulty, it cannot be denied that the ability and capacity of the successful applicants has been maintained at a very high level by the examination." 9.10 In general, it seems to me that most of the participants in the Sydney Conference now believe that the best type of vocational training is a sandwich course, that is a first course followed by a period of Articles in an office followed by a second course. The view was expressed that the system we are proposing to follow, which incorporates the sand- wich principle, may turn out to be the best available in the Commpn Law world. I sincerely hope that this turns out to be the case.

EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Maurice Corran

Chairman

Adrian P. Bourke John F. Buckley Claire Cusack Ernest B. Farrefl Bryan McMahon

David Moloney Rory ODonncIl Michael V. CMahony

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