key: cord-0952857-dkbxirfy
authors: Cabatbat, Katherine Pia M
title: Bar exam takers amidst the COVID 19 pandemic
date: 2021-06-25
journal: J Public Health (Oxf)
DOI: 10.1093/pubmed/fdab246
sha: a2f64230ddd2e5bafa1bb051b4e74d6fd266a856
doc_id: 952857
cord_uid: dkbxirfy

nan

To the editor Covid-19 pandemic forced the entire world to undertake measures to curb the spread of the virus. The Philippine Supreme Court responded by suspending the 2020 bar exam and moving for a 'digitalized, localized, and proctored modality for the Bar Examinations to be held over the four Sundays of November 2021'. Even if digitalized, examinees will still be in testing rooms in assigned testing centers in a locality closest to their residence or the school they graduated. They are required to bring their own WiFi-enabled laptops and essentials needed for the 8:00 am to 5:00 pm exam. 1 The suspension of the 2020 bar exam, use of computers as well as online review classes were unforeseen scenarios for future lawyers.

For those who graduated last March 2020, 6 months of preparation before the bar exam turned to 1 year and 6 months. The pride and satisfaction felt during graduation turned to anxiety over the manner, how and when they will take the exam. 2 The sudden shift to digitalized bar exam is an overhaul. Almost all exams in their years in law school were in written form. They were even constantly reminded to make their writings legible.

Face to face classes and encounters were what these upcoming bar examiners are accustomed to. They daily met their professors teaching through Socratic method. 3 Arguing about a legal concept within the grounds of school after hours of lecture or discussing a di cult provision with their study groups was common to them.

COVID-19 restrictions altered the way these law graduates normally study. They must now attend online classes with review centers, discuss di cult legal concepts with friends through social messaging applications and practice typing fast using laptops. On top of these, they must also face the usual fear of every examiner; failing the exam leading to unemployment, a sense of professional incompetence and financial insecurity. 4 These cause anxieties. The mental, physical and economic stress is taking a toll on them. Therefore, there is a need to help them.

In the journal that this paper is corresponding, the author suggested that law schools must provide their students with 'a sense of community through virtual seminars, workshops, recollections and advocacy campaigns, programs and modules for self-management skills and the practice of mindfulness and meditation as well as tele-counselling.' 5 Same things are needed by upcoming examiners. However, they are no longer under the direct care of law schools neither do law review centers see them as regular students needing emotional and psychological guidance.

Numerous studies showed that an individual can get through a stressful situation if they have someone to go through with it. For an upcoming bar exam takers, his/her family and friends could be that someone. Adequate support within the family acts as bu er against stress 6 and the same thing could be said about friends. 7 The usual struggles and anxieties faced by upcoming bar exam takers coupled with its suspension and depart from tradition needs to be understood in order to provide su cient responses as they wait to take the exam and launch their careers as lawyers not only by their family and friends but by the society as well.

COVID-10 and the Bar Exam Balancing Safety and Legal Professions Concern

Tipping Point: Will this Pandemic Mainstream Online Learning in Philippine Legal Education?

Raising the Bar: A Social Science Critique of Recent Increases to Passing Scores on the Bar Exam

Mental health and legal education in the time of pandemic

The impact of coping strategies and perceived family support on depressive and anxious symptomatology during the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) lockdown

The presence of a best friend bu ers the e ects of negative experiences

Cabatbat Theology and Religious Education Department