First legal article written by my elder one

This is my son's first legal article that he wrote for Bar and Bench Network. It has got published here.

This is what it says

CLAT 2011 Update: Around 24,000 students appeared for the exam across 19 cities

The 4^th Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) took place yesterday with approximately 24,000 students appearing for the exam for admission into 11 National Law Schools in the country. The exam was organized by the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata (WBNUJS).

Bar & Bench reached to one of the Bangalore exam centers, National Law School of India University (NLSIU) and spoke with the Vice Chancellor of the law school, Professor (Dr.) R. Venkata Rao.

Speaking with Bar & Bench on the exam, Prof. (Dr.) R. Venkata Rao said, “The exam focuses on quality legal education and CLAT ensures, selection of the best and survival of the fittest”. When asked about his views on the change in the composition of the paper from CLAT 2010 he replied, “The change in pattern from the previous exams can only be commented upon and understood by the candidates themselves”.

The National Law School saw a small protest outside its campus demanding reservation for the domicile of Karnataka. However, it did not affect the conduct and proceedings of the exam due to the tight security.

There was some disturbance seen at Hansraj College (one of the Delhi Centers). It was reported that distribution of the question paper was done in a disorderly manner which resulted in at least ten minutes being wasted after the exam had started. Bhavna Bhasin, one of the candidates reported, “We later found out that the invigilator was an office peon or a clerk. He had wrongly distributed the different sets of the paper and then it took at least ten minutes to sort out the mess-up. We were not even given a time-extension which even worsens the whole situation as the paper was extremely lengthy”.

CLAT 2011 comprised of 200 questions for 200 marks. The paper was divided into 5 sections. English section (40 marks) was a surprise as it tested students only from comprehensions and not vocabulary or grammar whereas Maths (20 marks) saw a majority of questions from probability. Current Affairs (50 marks) was fairly diverse with questions based on committees/commissions on the higher side, however level of questioning was moderate. Logical Reasoning (45 marks) comprised of topics such as assertion-reason-example and alphabet series. Legal Aptitude/Awareness (45 marks) had questions based on a pattern where students had to infer a conclusion based on a given set of facts and principle.

The general consensus among the students was that the paper was extremely lengthy however the views of the candidates differed on section of the paper which made it lengthier.

Speaking to Bar and Bench Rajneesh Singh, Product Manager (National) for the law course at IMS Learning Resources Pvt LTD said “Majority of the students are shattered and deeply frustrated by giving a paper which they were not mentally prepared for. It was not the questions which surprised them. It was the paucity of time which surprised them. For the first time in CLAT students were under severe time constraint, this made them to panic in the exam hall”.

Candidates Response: 

Nikhil, Clarence High School, Bangalore said, “Long paper, different from the previous year papers, however sticked to the course outline/syllabus”.

Amit, St. Aloysius, Mangalore, “English Section took most of the time. The paper was extremely lengthy however organized well”.

Avantika, G.D Goenka Public School, Delhi “The questions asked and the paper was easy except it was extremely long. Maths was difficult for me but Current Affairs went fairly well”.

Nishanth, School of Law, Christ University, Bangalore “Legal Aptitude section was long. Too many principles instead of one. Time Management was a big problem although Current Affairs was easy”.

Aathira, Kendriya Vidyala, Malleswaram Bangalore “Standard of questions was difficult and due to the length couldn’t complete on time”.

Shiva, Bishop Cotton’s, Bangalore “The paper went fine, however confusing till one point.Time-Management became challenging up till the end”.

The results will be announced on May 28. This year, the centralised admission process will be held at the WBNUJS.