There’s a lot of comments on the proposed bar exam reforms. Some say that a major overhaul of the entire system is needed. Some, on the other hand, say that the bar exams is acceptable as it is, and no reforms are needed. Perhaps the opinion of the Political Law examiner for the 2007 bar exams, Dean Raul Pangalangan, would carry more weight. Here’s a portion of what Dean Pangalangan said in his PDI column:
We must take the same path taken in the United States: multiple-choice questions and machine-corrected exams. This was already proposed by former Supreme Court Justice Vicente V. Mendoza, but it will entail a radical redesign of the process. Multiple-choice questions are best vetted through a panel of examiners and testing professionals — so there goes the solitary examiner and this whole system of cloak-and-dagger secrecy.
In response, it has been argued that essay questions are needed to judge the candidate’s facility with language and ability to analyze and to explain. Then, I argue, let’s retain a 20 percent essay portion for the exam, but mainly to test expressive abilities. In other words, let’s not overburden the whole process when all we want to target is a specific ability.
During my student days in U.P., our remedial law professor, now Dean Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, gave us one exam consisting entirely of multiple-choice questions. We thought that a multiple-choice exam would be easy. We were wrong, dead wrong, and it was an experience that made many of us wish for more easy-type questions.
In closing, allow me to congratulate the new Dean of my alma mater, Dean Marvic M.V.F. Leonen.
Related posts:
by jna
07 Apr 2008 at 21:23
hindi na nga pumasa ayaw pang mgpahumble..hay truly empty barrels make most of the noise..huh..
by juris tantrum
08 Apr 2008 at 00:25
Sakit naman nun jna hehe. Pero you’re right. However, leniency along the lines and premises drawn by ayemempoy is in order din. For those who failed, grieve a bit then start your quest for September ulit. Saka na kayo plan for mass clamors for reform after September. It would be prejudicial for you if you spend precious days reacing for the moon when all you have to do for now is reach for something that is nearer. My sympathies to you guys. I’ll be one with you in asking for more transparency with regard to the checking of the answers. But I’ll reserve any overt act towards that end after September.
by just kidding
13 Apr 2008 at 15:51
good news! latest news from SC-lahat daw ng nagtake last year eh ipapasa na..nabasa dw kc ng mga justices ang comments nyo..hehe..(joke,joke,joke)masyado po kc tayong seryoso..
by just kidding
13 Apr 2008 at 15:53
sana po sa mga magreretake pumasa na kayo dis year…kc po bk next year may reklamo na naman kayo…
by jna
13 Apr 2008 at 15:56
sori sa mga nasaktan..bato-bato po sa langit ang tamaan wag magagalit..alam nyo, ganyan talaga ang lyf..accept the things that cannot be changed…try harder nalang po dis coming bar…
by goimon
19 Apr 2008 at 14:10
if there is a better way to conduct the BAR examinations, wouldnt you think the SC already implemented that way… for many many years, the SC used this method simply because it works….
instead of looking for so many other ways… why dont examinees simply master the way we are doing this since the early 1900’s
by Yam Manuel
02 Jun 2008 at 13:56
I like this! Multiple Choice type of Questions na lang! hehe..
Advantage ito sa mga CPAs!
by Obama Lucida-DS
26 Jun 2008 at 05:36
Ang galing nyong dalawa mga Attys.Ang mga abogado pag natalo sa kaso kulong lang ang client pero pag doctor na ang pumalpak sa operation patay ang patient. Pero bakit palaging low-mortality rate sila 50% palagi ang passing nila n twice a year pa n multiple choice lahat so alam agad ang result n computer ang taga-check hindi tulad ng bar kung saan yung examiner n mga kung sino-sino lang na inutusan nya pag d sya pwede.Left n right ang medical malpractice, yung OFW na nagpa-lipo who died din as reported in TV patrol,recently yung kay calayan yung alleged botched penile enlargement, yung sa medical city case na naiwan ng doctor yung instrument sa loob ng body ng patient n as a result he died,yung rectal surgery cebu scandal.Sa tingin ko lang sana sa kanila ang dapat 1/4 lang ang pumasa kasi public health ang involved at sa bar naman ang gawing 50% passing n twice a year na rin n multiple choice 80% n 20% as suggested by a noted authority in political law n 2007 bar examiner dean Raul Pangalangan in his Inquirer column n pag mostly multiple choice na computer na ang taga-check hindi yung subjective na examiner n alam agad ang result parang yung mga PRC conducted exams n alisin na ang five-flunk rule na yan,unfair kasi bar lng ang meron yung ibang professions wala niyan unlimited pa rin parang sun to sun. hehe.I think now is the time to reform the bar exam kasi even CJ Puno said nauubos na ang mga trial lawyer kasi lahat ay pumupunta sa corporate practice n yearly maraming lawyer n judges ang napapatay mostly case related.Ang SC ay sumasabay na sa global trend pagdating sa bar reforms pero gradual lang parang ang bagal kasi unti-unti pa lang nitong ini-incorporate ang multiple choice. iIn the end, nasa kanilang kamay pa din ang pagreform ng mabilis sa bar exam. Sana lang ang chairman ngayon 2008 bar ay maawain at hindi hirapan ang mga tanong para hindi gawin rason ang unusually strict corrections n madaming pumasa kasi kawawa naman ang mga barrristers ang hirap kayang magrebyu yung gastos wyl doing it n ung mga nakaasa sa kanila yung mga nagbenta ng carabao sa province para lang may pangrebyu tapos sasabit lang.
Pingback
by Good Luck to the 2008 Bar Examinees at Atty-at-Work
18 Jul 2008 at 23:14
[...] at times heated, on the Supreme Court’s decision to lower the passing rate. We have the reflections of Dean Pangalangan on top of everyone’s comments. There was a call to put a closure on the [...]
by Simple Solutions
05 Aug 2008 at 07:46
Wow, the solution to this is so damn simple. The problem with our country is we are a people who truly lack basic common sense, in other words practicality. Whenever there’s some concern (like the inability to test reasoning and expressive writing ability in multiple choice) it suddenly becomes an insurmountable problem. It’s as if people say, oh no, what a big problem we can never solve it. Well this is the attitude of losers, not winners and the hallmark of stagnation, instead of progress.
If the Supreme Court really wants to test reading and writing ability, they could simply use a test that’s already there for everyone, administered by people who’ve done it for almost a century. I’m talking about the IELTS test started by a consortium of English-speaking countries. Yes, it will take swallowing our pride but let’s face it, English is NOT a language native to this country, it would be best to, I don’t know, let primarily English speaking countries decide who reads and writes English best. If most of the passing lawyers would be able to get a perfect 8.0 (native speaker rating) on the IELTS I would be very, very surprised given the horrific grammar and spelling that some lawyers are wont to throw around.
Lastly, I have to laugh at the people who think we shouldn’t “copy” multiple choice because we have our “own” system. Here again is another case of false Filipino pride in something that we should not be proud of. Another case of, because it’s Filipino “espesyal” it’s the best. Well, I hate to break it to you, but geez, look at our laws they are copies almost word for word from the Spanish Law, which in itself was copied almost word for word from the Napoleonic Code. Additionally, essay-type questions are used extensively by the British, only in their case they have the common sense to employ committees of checkers who correct a single subject and cross-check, rather than rely on a single examiner as only a nation of impractical people can do.
Seriously, let’s look around us before coming to the notion that our method is best and needs no reform. Look at our damn country, it is a screwed up mess. The first step to change, is an admission of the sorry state of things.
by cute
04 Sep 2008 at 04:31
haha jna ,masususkat ba ng four corner ng lasale ang nalalaman ng isang tao,assurance ba na kaw eh magiging good lawyer ate kasi pumasa ka,well hopefully your luck will run out someday and kami naman kakantyaw sa iyo o sana love ones mo mangamote din sa exam sa ano man kinder o sa algebra makaganti lang sa iyo hehe
well noong 1900s eh kokonti pa ang batas gaga at kokonti pa ang decision ng sc,bwisit na bar to wala ako ma alala sa la salle hehe.
by out-law
15 Oct 2008 at 17:49
whether multiple choice exam or the essay type, if you guys are ready to rumble the bar exams, it doesn’t really matter. Ang dami nyong reklamo eh, just study, study and study!!! It is not the type of exam that contributes to a barrister’s flunking, it is his preparation that makes or breaks his objective of passing. It is the barrister’s unassailability that determines his fate, not the type of exams….
by jireh
20 Oct 2008 at 17:08
…and Divine intervention. It’s no longer within the Bar examinees control right now. Just continue praying. Have faith.
by clark
24 Oct 2008 at 09:25
…But is Law, Logic and Language present in a multiple-choice exam? Obviously, an essay type of question would test whether the 3 elements are present, and whether the examinees is just bluffing or not.
second, why is there a need to highlight the topnotchers? I think there is no need. It is in practice that matters.
by not really
09 Jan 2010 at 00:14
@clark
(quote)second, why is there a need to highlight the topnotchers? I think there is no need. It is in practice that matters. (/quote)
similarly why is there a need to rank test takers from Engineering boards, nursing boards and take note UP TO the 20th rank!
I can only think of two reasons:
1. first the pride that comes from placing in the exams, simula primary school ginagawa na un eh..
2. It somehow gives a jumpstart to the careers ng mga bagong lawyers, lalo na kung hindi ka naman from the supposedly BIG THREE law schools.
mag IELTS daw ang mga abogado? haha
English is just a tool…lawyers use. Even if you apply grammatical rules in most of the so-called copied laws, the wordings of the law will fail miserably what with the “changing” grammatical rules of today. Plus, maraming matatas mag Ingles na abogado pero BOPOLS..marami rin SABLAY sa Ingles na abogado pero respetado sa practice.
by tiger
10 Feb 2010 at 03:28
There are two problems here:
First, an essay exam is necessary. A good writing skill is indespensable to the legal profession. Litigations are not simnply won with legal knowledge. It is in the first place, a battle of “pleadings.” Legal knowledge, by itself, is not enough, to win a court trial. The lawyer’s ability to express himself, to call the attention of the court to the points he raised, and to make known his arguments are indispensable factors. Hence, for us to have competent lawyers, it is essential that we license only to those have the writing skills.
Second. However, it seems to be a fact that the bar results are subject to the whims and caprices of the examiners.
Let’s face it. The examiners are not required to justify their judgments on the examinees answers. The fate of the bar aspirant who toiled day and night in his years of preparation, who sacrificed huge amount of money (including that of his family) just to be an officer of the court, who set aside almost all his personal luxury just to ear the noblest of all profession, is in the hands overly-mighty discretion of his examiner. The personal preferences of his examiner, his moods and health at the time of the checking MAY destroy, without any acceptable justification at all, the poor candidate’s dream.
Ergo, while we cannot afford to produce lawyer’s unequipped with legal writing skills, we cannot, at the same time, subject legal dreams TOTALLY to the malice and caprices of the examinees.
I humbly agree to the proposed part- multiple choice and part essay exam.