Unizulu law accreditation under withdrawal threat
‘Our LLB programme remains accredited and the institution will ensure it remains so'
The University of Zululand (Unizulu) has until May to make improvements to its law programme – or face losing its accreditation for the qualification.
Unizulu is among three SA universities given notices of possible accreditation withdrawal by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) following a national review of 17 tertiary institutions offering the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree.
The CHE announced last week it had already withdrawn the accreditation of Walter Sisulu University and issued notices to the universities of Limpopo, Cape Town and Zululand.
‘The national reviews are about re-accrediting existing programmes offered at higher education institutions as part of the CHE’s quality assurance system.
‘The fundamental aims of a national review are to ensure that minimum standards in programmes are met, that students are protected from programmes that do not meet minimum standards and that public confidence in higher education programmes is assured,’ the CHE said in a statement..
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While the council has not publicly stated the reasons for issuing the notices of withdrawal, Unizulu says it is addressing specific key concerns raised..
‘As part of working with the CHE, Unizulu has a scheduled a stakeholder engagement session in December to ensure that the institutional improvement plan is responsive in dealing with the issues raised,’ the university said in a statement.
Unizulu said the notice of withdrawal will not affect law students and graduates and they will continue to enroll first year students for the programme in 2018.
It said students who have graduated will not be impacted negatively by the announcement, and the university will continue improving upon its reputable LLB programme which has produced top class alumni over the years.
‘Our LLB programme remains accredited and the institution will ensure it remains so.’
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