MANILA, Philippines — Within the next few months, the Supreme Court will begin testing the viability of a computerized Bar Examination, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, chairman of the 2020/21 Bar Examination said.
In the latest Bar Bulletin, Leonen said that within the next few months they would conduct a series of activities “to test the viability of the proposed system such as holding two mock Bar examinations in several law schools.
The Bar examination will be conducted under a localized and proctored setting.
“This would do away with the traditional handwritten examinations, which would have long been deemed to affect the evaluation of answers and distorted the playing field,” read the Bar Bulletin No. 16.
It added that the new method “would also facilitate the expeditions evaluation of the answers of Bar candidates and the early release of the Bar Examination results.”
“These activities will be done in partnership with the Philippine Association of Law Schools and other relevant sectors. Building on the knowledge to be gained from the endeavors, the Office of the Bar Chairperson can assess early on the most apt modality for the Bar Examinations proper,” Leonen said.
He said an announcement shall be made in the first quarter of 2021 regarding the modality of the Bar examination to give the examinees more time to adjust.
Meanwhile, Leonen said a Committee of Bar Examiners composed of three members shall be created for each Bar subject “to maximize efficiency in preparing questions and evaluating answers, in light of the projected increase in examinees due to the postponement of the 2020 Bar examination.”
A committee, he said will also guarantee more judicious, quality-made examinations.
In a separate Bar Bulletin, Leonen said that the syllabi previously issued for the Bar examination shall remain.
However, the scope and cutoff of canonical jurisprudential doctrines shall be extended until Sept. 30, 2020.
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