878 take Shari’ah Bar exams; highest since 1983

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 878 aspirants have taken the 2024 Shari’ah Bar examinations, the highest number of examinees since 1983.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, Shari’ah Bar chairperson, attributed the high turnout to the testing site put up in Davao City, noting that many examinees are from Mindanao.

Singh said it was the first time the exams were conducted in a regionalized and digitalized format, making it accessible not only to examinees in the country, but also those abroad.

The Shari’ah Bar exams were conducted on April 28 and May 2 at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City and Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU) in Davao.

At least 604 took the computerized exams at ADDU and 197 at UP.

Seventy-seven took the test in Arabic in UP.

Singh said 64.56 percent of the examinees are women. She said the exams would now be conducted yearly from the previous once every two years.

Singh said the results would be announced in July while the oathtaking is set in August.

The Shari’ah Training Seminar (STS) adopted a hybrid format, allowing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), particularly those from Saudi Arabia to participate.

The STS is among the prerequisites for taking the exams.

Singh said the OFWs requested that they be allowed to participate in STS sessions, which were conducted online.