Saint Louis University will be part of the historic 2020/2021Bar examinations this November.
The Supreme Court, represented by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen and SLU President, Rev. Fr. Gilbert Sales, signed on July 8 a memorandum of agreement officially making the university a part of the country’s first localized and digitized Bar examinations.
Sales expressed the university’s gratitude to the SC for choosing SLU as one of the testing centers in the country and assured the institution’s support to the reforms initiated by the SC.
Leonen, who is also the 2020/2021 Bar examinations chairperson, led the orientation on how the examinations will be held and the process to be followed by the applicants to the exams in November, among other things.
In his presentation at SLU, Leonen said the localized and digitized Bar examinations is one of reforms adopted by the SC.
The MOA signing was streamed live through SLU’s Facebook account on July 8.
A true-blue Baguio boy, Leonen said in this year’s digitized exams, students will bring their own device to the classrooms, which will be designed pursuant to the guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid-19.
He added each local testing center will provide AC plugs for the laptops that the students will bring, provide a specific bandwidth, and install CCTV cameras.
“The CCTV cameras will allow the Bar chair and justices of the Supreme Court to monitor each classroom in each testing center live in a command center, which will be put up at the University of the Philippines College of Law,” Leonen said.
He said a mock Bar conducted in January involving four testing centers and a command center showed this is possible.
“The entire court was able to visit not only the command center but also Ateneo de Manila University, which was one of the local testing sites in Manila.”
Leonen said the SC will train proctors who will be deployed to the local testing centers.
Sixteen local testing centers have initially agreed to sign the MOA, based on a template approved by the SC en banc.
Leonen said there might be 25 testing centers throughout the country as the SC is negotiating with others schools to accommodate examinees.
“Each (testing center) is protected from Covid, with the same level of security, the same kind of exam, and the same quality of bandwidth and proctors.”
The 2020/2021 Bar examinations will be on Nov. 7, 14, 21, and 28. – Jane B. Cadalig
April 23, 2024
