Why the Supreme Court lowered passing grade in 2014 bar exams

So why did the Supreme Court decide to adjust the passing rate for the 2014 Bar examinations? 

Apparently, the chairman of the Bar exams—even without publicly citing a reason—has the discretion to recommend the lowering of the passing rate, subject to the approval of the Supreme Court en banc.

 

According to SC Public Information Office chief and spokesman Theodore Te, it was 2014 Bar exam chair Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta who recommended that the latest Bar exam's passing rate be lowered from the usual 75 percent to 73.

 

It was the third time that the SC en banc decided to lower the passing grade, the first one was in 2012 with 70 percent, and 2013 with 73 percent. 

 

Under the Rules of Court, a bar examinee is “deemed to have passed his examinations successfully if (he/she) has obtained a general average of 75%.” 

However, the SC en banc has the discretion to lower the passing grade, upon recommendation of the Committee Chairperson. 

 

"According to Justice Peralta, it is always the discretion of the chair of the Bar examination committee to ask for a reduction. He did not reveal a reason. He just gave a recommendation to reduce the passing percentage," said Te.

 

"The court deliberated on it and the court agreed to reduce the passing percentage to 73 which is same pass percentage last year," the spokesman added.

 

Te, however, clarified that "I cannot say na ganoon na ang magiging kalakaran [palagi]. It is always discretionary on the part of the chairman of the Bar exam committee."

 

Te said the SC justices, during a special en banc session, would usually deliberate on adjustments to the passing grades. "If they feel that they want to reduce it or [if there are] certain matters, pinag-uusapan doon. Pero wala na tayo doon, internal iyon," he added.

 

The spokesman said past Bar exam chairpersons never usually mentioned or elaborated in public on why they were recommending a lowering of the passing grade.

 

Te said the en banc was usually presented with all the scores for that year's Bar exams "so may konting data na ang court... and the court can decide na 'Oh puwede nating babaan ng ganito.'"

 

He said justices can then determine "by what factor dadami ang papasa additionally if they decide to lower the percentage or keep it at that level."

 

"Kung kailangan ibaba, ipapalam ng Bar chair sa en banc. Ito ang recommendation, ibaba natin at kung sabihin ng court, sige payag kami or puwede sabihin ng court na payag kami pero ganitong rate puwede," he said.

 

Te, who was a Bar examiner  for criminal law in the 2014 Bar exams, dismissed claims that the questions in last October's exams were more difficult than in previous years.

 

"I don't think there's a deliberate effort to make it more difficult, at least from my end. I did not set out to make it more difficult," said Te, adding that his students in UP Law might even recognize the type of questions he would make when he was still teaching.

 

He said the Bar exam questions is a product of inputs from both the Bar examiners and the Bar chair, who has to go over the questions and decide which will get in the final exam.

 

"Ang mine-measure diyan is kung may kakayahan ba itong maging abugado, hindi iyong may kakayahin ba ito na maging pinakamagalin o mahinang abugado. Hindi iyon ang intention na gawing mahirap," said Te.

 

"Baka nagkataon lang kung may finormulate ang Bar chair na medyo mahirap. Baka nagkataon lang," he added.

From 2000 to 2006, the Bar exam passing rates still managed to exceed 30 percent three times (in 2001, 2004, and 2006). After that, the passing rates saw a decline, with the rate going as low as 20.26 percent in 2010.

 

However, the following year, in 2011, the passing rate suddenly spiked back up to more than 30 percent (31.95%). This was the year the Supreme Court introduced multiple-choice questions (MCQ) in the exams.

 

For two years, results for MCQs weighed more (60 percent) than the results for essay questions (40 percent). But unlike in the 2011 results, the 2012 passing rate plummeted to a 12-year low of 17.76 percent.

 

The following year, in 2013, the SC decided to change the Bar exam rules anew. This time, essay questions were made to weigh more (80 percent) than the MCQ (20 percent). That year, the passing rate recovered (22.18) but still far from the 30-percent mark in the early 2000s.
 

Asked if he thought the repeated lowering of passing grades in the past years could be indicative of the quality of law education in the Philippines, Te said: "The Bar exam is not a measure of how good or bad you will be as a lawyer. It is an important measure, but [it's not right] to say na dapat kabahan ang SC."

 

He said no two Bar exams are alike, saying that the exams vary every year depending on the Bar chair and the set of examiners.

 

"So depende iyan sa style ng chair at expertise niya sa pagpili ng tanong. Hindi mo puwede ikumpara ang bawat exam," he said.

 

Te said the Bar exam is not a "standard measure" like other licensure exams in medicine or nursing, in which "may standard question na iyan [at] mediyo may science na sa ganoon."  —NB, GMA News