My colleague, a law school graduate, once told me the reason why he didn't pass the Bar exam during his two tries: his handwriting was horrible.
At first, I believed it was a crutch, a lame excuse, but then I saw him write and I was convinced. His writing was barely legible even if I was a licensed pharmacist.
The thing is such instances like these certainly do not have a place in our society today. First, the Rules of Court provides this provision for those examinees who are severely lacking in dexterity:
SEC. 10. Bar examination, by questions and answers, and in writing.—Persons taking the examination shall not bring papers, books or notes into the examination rooms. The questions shall be the same for all examinees and a copy thereof, in English or Spanish, shall be given to each examinee. Examinees shall answer the questions personally without help from anyone.
Upon verified application made by an examinee stating that his penmanship is so poor that it will be difficult to read his answers without much loss of time, the Supreme Court may allow such examinee to use a typewriter in answering the questions. Only noiseless typewriters shall be allowed to be used. (Emphasis supplied)
Second, I think it's time we use computers instead of answering on paper. Besides, I don't know any lawyer who writes his pleadings and petitions by hand. Why should law students be forced to write by hand if that's the case?
What I'm trying to say, in short, is that exam journals should be phased out in exchange for encoding our answers digitally. True, a lot of you may have issues on this related to security, integrity, sentimentality, and a host of other reasons. But we can always program software to prevent examinees from, say, accessing grammar/spelling check, cheating, or otherwise saving information from the exam to another digital media.
Ika nga, diba? "Kung gusto, may paraan. Kung ayaw, maraming dahilan."
Admittedly, my suggestion is also an excuse. But it is an excuse to do away with a skill (handwriting) that has nothing to do with one's proficiency to practice law. Hopefully, when we remove this from the equation, we can expect Bar exam results to be closer to the truth.
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