SC foregoes Top 10 in bar

There will be no top 10 passers in 2020/2021 Bar Examinations to be announced after the most grueling tests for aspiring lawyers in the four Sundays of November this year, a departure from the consistent practice of extolling the 10 topnotchers, the Supreme Court said Friday.

In an en banc notice, the SC revealed that it has approved several reforms proposed by 2020/2021 Bar Examination Chairperson Associate Justice Marvic Leonen to make the examination for aspiring lawyers “more equitable.”

The reforms include the modification of the grading system to enable a more reasonable approach to appraising and reporting on Bar Examination performance.

Instead, an examinee who obtains a weighted score of 85 percent or higher for the upcoming examination shall be recognized for exemplary performance.

The high court stressed that the modification in the grading system was  necessary “to enable a more reasonable approach to appraising and reporting on Bar Examination performance.”

In the past, simultaneous with the release of successful Bar passers, the high court also announced the topnotchers, but with the pandemic, Leonen said, they have to take into consideration the two batches that would be taking the Bar exam this November.

“On one hand, those who had intended to take the Bar Examinations in 2020 either had more time to review, or endured more time waiting. The 2021 graduates, on the other hand, had to endure the longer ordeal of preparing to graduate during the pandemic, causing delays in the graduation dates. They have been put in a constrained environment, with only a brief window of time to prepare,” Leonen said, in Bar Bulletin 25.

“Testing two batches of examinees who prepared under different circumstanes—not to mention the vast number of combined examinees, placing an enormous demand on the examiners—compels the adoption of unique mechanisms that aim to balance these inequalities,” Leonen added.

Besides recognizing exemplary performances of examinees, the high bench will also have a list of law schools ranked from the most to the least number of passers among first time examinees and a separate list ranked from those with the most to the least number of examinees recognized for exemplary performance.

“It is hoped that by shifting the focus away from how select individuals excel and onto a school’s collective performance, this will encourage deep-seated and wide-ranging improvements in legal education,” Leonen stressed.

The 2020 Bar examination was cancelled due to the pandemic.

However, to make sure that the exam will push through this year, several reforms have been introduced including localized examination venues due to travel restrictions and the online filing of petition to take the Bar.

“The exigencies of the current public health situation provide an opportunity to be creative in addressing the need for more compassion and equity,” the SC said.

However, the high court clarified that the changes will be applied only on the 2020/2021 Bar examinations to be conducted in November this year, “but with a view that they may be reviewed by the Court En Banc for the next Bar Examinations in with its continuing efforts for reform.”