UST will remain a bar examination testing center despite the deferment of the 2020/2021 examinations, Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina said on Tuesday.
“UST is and will continue to be one of the bar testing centers for the next bar exams,” Divina told the Varsitarian.
Divina made the statement after the Supreme Court announced that the 2020/2021 examinations, scheduled for November this year, had been moved to Jan. 16 to Feb. 6, 2022.
In a bulletin, the Supreme Court said the bar exams were postponed in consideration of “the Covid-19 situation nationally and in all testing sites” and experts’ advice.
The application period will not be reopened, but all preparatory activities for the examinations such as the selection of venue and downloading of secure exam delivery programs will continue, bar chairperson Assoc. Justice Marvic Leonen said.
Divina said the University would implement strict health and safety protocols throughout the exams, including weekly Covid-19 testing for examinees during the test proper, enforcing social distancing and requiring the wearing of face masks and face shields.
Divina added that only 500 examinees would take the bar exams in UST.
About 220 Thomasians from Batch 2020 and 2021 are expected to take the bar exams.
Earlier this year, it was announced that the 2020/2021 bar examinations would be taken digitally in proctored testing rooms in sites across the country on the four Sundays of November of 2021, which are November 7, 14, 21 and 28.
The now-cancelled 2021 examinations were supposed to accommodate those unable to take the also-cancelled 2020 bar exams.
