It is no secret that in Kenya passing your bar examinations at the first sitting is a story of David and Goliath. Over the past 5 years, there has been an average pass rate of 18%–22%. This year, for instance, there has been a reported 18% pass rate which occasionally leads to many questions to the Kenya School of law and the Council of Legal Education. However, that is a discussion for another day.
How do we slay this
Dragon?
Success begins in
the mind. Having the “can
do it” mentality is the first step. Most people cannot overcome the fear because
of the stories that they heard about how it is hard and impossible to pass the
exams. I chose to change my attitude in order to change the outcome.
Success begins in
the mind. Having the “can do
it” mentality is the first step
Consistency
The journey of a
thousand miles begins with the first step. Start studying from month one. If
you start working from the beginning it will help you in the end because the
contents of the ATP is too large and diverse.
“form a
discussion group”
My advice to you in
the first semester is that you form a discussion group made
of not more than twelve people. This is because very large groups are
ineffective and cover less. Make sure that they are people who are committed and
serious.
Advocates Training
Programme is made of three examinations:
- Orals (20% of overall grade)
- Project (20% of overall grade)
- Examination(60% of overall grade)
Focus
One of the
strategies Sun Tzu in the Book The Art of War explains
is: “Avoid what is strong attack what is weak.” Orals and Project
work are the areas you should attack in the first two semesters. These are the
exams that you can control. You should keep tabs with the lecturer in terms of
content but I focused in getting the most out of the projects and the orals.
Since the pass mark is 50%, Aim for 30% so that in the exam your only left
looking for not more than 25%. The exams are hard and bulky that is why we are
attacking this two examinations.
How to pass orals:
To pass orals you need
to prepare adequately. The lecturer's test for; your knowledge of the law, your
dressing, your confidence, and presentation skills. Four weeks to your exam go
through the most commonly asked questions and recite your presentation skills
before your colleagues. In the exams, your answers should be backed up by the
law and if you don’t know the answer don’t panic just courteously ask the
examiner to ask you another question.
“Your level of
preparation will determine your level of confidence in the orals.”
How to pass the
project:
Teamwork, Teamwork,
Teamwork. I observed that
the groups that performed the best in the projects worked as a team. Some
groups left the work to be done by individuals but 10 minds are better than 1.
Do your research before discussion otherwise you will spend more time arguing.
Make sure you are quick because doing them in a hurry will not produce the best
results.
You will also have to
be good to your lecturers because they are the ones that mark the orals. Do
their class presentations for they shall give your group good marks.
“Teamwork,
Teamwork, Teamwork”
Take a Break
After completing the
first two semesters, your energy may reduce that is why there’s a break. Go on
holiday, relax because you are not a machine. This will enable you to have
energy for the final and toughest semester.
“Go on holiday, relax
because you are not a machine”
Bar Examinations:
In the final semester, you will feel beaten, battered, and bruised. However, you must be soldier on.
This is the time when your orals and project results will be released. You
should mark the results of the units you scored highest and those that were
lowest and this way you will be able to strengthen the weak units. Sun Tzu says “Know
your enemy and know yourself and in 100 battles you will never be in
peril”. This is a strategy of assessing your strengths and weaknesses,
working on them, and going through CLE marking schemes to know how they mark
exams. Do this and you will pass.
“You should mark the
results of the units you scored highest and those that were lowest and this way
you will be able to strengthen the weak units”.
In this semester you
should focus on mastering content, doing past papers, and learning how to answer
the exam questions.
Use the IRAC
method of analysis to know how to tackle the questions and to
understand what the examiner is really looking for. I advise you to read the
question asked before reading the contents of the question because the examiner
is only looking for one answer, the rest is irrelevant.
Finally, I advise you to attend the classes of the best
lecturers in the tough units because for me, no matter how much I wanted to
study all the notes, Ms. Namisi’s conveyancing classes did a great deal for me.
Pray
Prayer was critical
to me because I believed in the words of the good book that says “I can
do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.
In
conclusion, I would like
to state that people are different, the way I did it may not be the way others
did it. I wish you good luck with your bar examinations and even if you fail reflect
on the words of Sir Winston Churchill: “Success is stumbling from failure
to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”