Academic activities for Semester 1, 2020, will resume on Monday, 11 May. The School of Law welcomes back all of its Degree and Diploma students! In welcoming back its students, the School makes no distinction between resident and non-resident students, including resident students who chose to vacate their campus accommodation during the State of Emergency lockdown period. Most particularly, the School welcomes back those students who, for a combination of personal, social, and family reasons, could not leave their campus accommodation during this period. The School also acknowledges that some students may wish to withdraw from continuing their academic programs for semester 1 or for the full year. The School will assist such students to complete the required withdrawal process without any academic penalty.

For those students who have decided to continue their studies, we acknowledge that many of you may, to varying degrees, and to a larger or lesser extent, require a ‘social or emotional recovery period’ to enable you to effectively return to the academic activities orbit. The School team will do all that it can to assist each student to resume his or her academic activities to complete Semester 1, 2020. We therefore encourage all our students to stay academically focused during the few weeks that lie ahead of us.

The potential health risks that are facing the University community – students, staff and visitors – and the country as a whole by the COVID-19 virus, and the essential need to maintain social distancing, in particular, means that the structure and processes of the teaching and learning activities of the School, and the University as whole, will not be as they were before the lockdown. There will be very noticeable changes. To a large extent, the form alterations to the teaching arrangements that were in place immediately before the State of Emergency lockdown take, will depend on the ability of staff and students to access e-learning platforms, appropriate outcomes of discussions between course lecturers and students in the respective courses, and the schedule set by the University’s lecture and tutorial timetable.

Lectures for large courses in particular, will not continue in the same face-to-face format. Instead, a blended learning process involving both face-to-face teaching (where appropriate) and appropriate e-learning or technology enabled learning platforms will be used to deliver lectures, conduct tutorials, and manage assessments. Whichever platform is used may also combine some teaching and learning activities through WhatsApp.

It is important to note that, in order to effectively participate in the new learning process, which will involve learning using an e-learning platform, students MUST activate their UPNG email accounts.

Finally, every one of you, our students, as well as our staff will be learning and adjusting to this ‘new normal’ academic environment, ensuring that, together, we can deliver an academic outcome that is both achievable and defendable, and receive just rewards!

Psalms 23: The Lord is my Shepherd…

For any queries, please contact: Tel, 3267481, or email, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Professor John Luluaki
Acting Executive Dean
School of Law

School of Law