R.R. KRISHNAA (Legal Manager) 16 April 2010

Law students take law into their hands

BANGALORE: Law students as teachers? Do they teach better than regular teachers? Yes, say students, as the student-teacher can connect better with the class. A trend that is slowly catching up in the city where students from reputed law schools like the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) are doubling up as teachers.

Call it a passion for law, these students want to encourage and share their knowledge with the students looking for a promising career in law. And students are not complaining.

Mithila Raman, a second PU commerce student, Mount Carmel College, attends these classes where her teacher is a law student from NLSIU. "His knowledge on the current affairs is much better. He's from a legal background and helps on the kind of questions that one can expect in the CLAT (Common Law Admision Test),'' she said.

In addition to this, the atmosphere in the class is lively. "It's more interactive unlike the class held by the regular teachers. These students make the atmosphere casual,'' said Mithila.

It's not the atmosphere alone. It's the way these law students-cum-teachers handle classes. "Regular teachers are not upgraded unlike your law students-cum-teachers. The student-teachers always have something new to offer. For instance, once we go to class, we check the newspapers and see if there are any interesting legal cases. If there is, then that would be discussed in the class. That makes a lot of difference,'' she explained.

Agreeing with Mithali, another second PU student Amit Kiran of St Joseph's College said that when actual cases were given for discussion the understanding of the subject is deeper. "This is what happens when the law students teach us. We take up a, issue and follow it till the verdict. Moreover, these students-cum-teachers have excellent legal knowledge and their training for CLAT is good,'' he said.

As for these students who double up as teachers, it's one way of giving back to the society. For some it's extra bucks and for a few it's fun.

Diwakar Kishore, a fourth year student from NLSIU, said he has been teaching since his second year. He said: "I love law and like to encourage aspiring lawyers to take it. When I joined law, it was not much appreciated. Thanks to National Law Schools, it has changed the face of the law. It's dynamic and pays well.''

Teaching for him is one way of giving back to the society. "It also gave me economic independence. I am able to pay my fees,'' he said proudly.

Echoing similar views, Sasha Mathews, 4th year, NLSIU, said the focus is on helping these students to prepare for the exam. "I myself have written for the entrance test and prepared extensively for it. I like teaching these kids and moreover, they look up to us. They want to be where we are today,'' she said.

It's not easy holding attention of these students as they would have already got the study materials. These teachers come up with stories, anecdotes and some motivation talks. "Otherwise they get bored easily or switch off. There will be a lot of interaction,'' she added.

Hrishikesh Datar, a final year NLSIU student, started teaching three months ago. Terming the experience as "enjoyable", he said that he always gets full attendance as he's been successful holding the attention of the class. "I tell jokes, talk about recent cases etc. So, every student enjoys,'' he said.

He said it gives him a lot of joy when he sees his students joining NLSIU or go abroad. "I feel very happy when they do well,'' Diwakar added. Talking like a true teacher!