Statistics on the 2014 Bar Examinations
(Part 4)
by Thads Bentulan
thadsbentulan@gmail.com
How
algebra distorted the 2014 bar
Let’s proceed to
another topic. The Philippine bar is probably the hardest in the world, but the
2014 bar is the probably the hardest in Philippine bar history, and you can
blame it on algebra. Far-fetched? Let me explain.
The Supreme Court decreed
that the 2014 bar should consist of 80% essay and 20% multiple choice questions
(MCQ). And this is where the tyranny of algebra lies. How so?
Usually, there are
only 10 bar problems per subjects (with sub-problems). Maintaining the 20:80 ratio
would mean only 2 MCQ and 8 essay type. Only 2 MCQs in a bar exam is so insignificant
it would be ridiculous to have any MCQ at all. Progressively, the ridiculous
pattern continues: For 15 problems, 3 MCQs, 12 essays; for 20 problems, 4 MCQs,
16 essays; for 26 problems, 5 MCQs, 21 essays, for 30 problems, 6 MCQs, 24
essays.
Thus, as you can
see, including only 3 or 4 MCQs would be ridiculous, so the Bar Committee has
no choice but to include 5 or 6 MCQs. But at what expense? To maintain the
algebraic ratio, the essay problems had to be 24 or 21 problems in the morning
and in the afternoon. Can you imagine all that thinking, composing, and
writing? From the usual 10 to 15 essays, it became 30! And that’s for the
morning session only. Even a single additional problem can already wreak havoc
in your thinking and writing process. That’s murder! That’s how algebra caused
the 2014 bar to be up to 150% longer, and therefore, physically and mentally
excruciating.
Suggestion
adopted?
Remember, at the
outset, I said that one of my suggestions was adopted for the 2015 bar? In
early 2015, I wrote to the Supreme Court that there is a lesson to be learned: “Do
not fix the percent of MCQ. Better don’t include MCQ because the
MCQ in the 2014 Bar hardly matters (total of 5%-6% for 5 to 6 questions?)
Or, if MCQ is part
of the exams, don’t advertise it because their presence hardly make a dent
anyway.
The negative impact
is that the public will think the bar has been watered down in difficulty having
gone MCQ. This is very misleading. In fact, the opposite happened.”
The Supreme Court,
coincidentally, removed the MCQs in the 2015 bar. Want another coincidence? In
2007, the Supreme Court amended Rule 65 Sec. 8, but that’s another story.
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