another board exam scandal?

the nursing board exam leakage scandal is on its death bed. i'll give it a month's time 'til it's finally laid to rest. it will rest but not in peace. i doubt if the issue will be resolved, but i bet it will lose its fire and be forgotten. it's not a surprise considering the history of politics in the country. be it a leakage, corruption, money laundering, election cheating, or even murder, if someone big is behind it, more often than not, he'll get away with it. and while the PRC tries it's best to resolve the nursing issue, i've discovered another issue concerning board examinations. this does not concern the PRC directly, but it's an issue that mirrors the origins of the much talked about leakage...

july 2006. i, together with 1,208 other pharmacy graduates coming from 37 schools took the pharmacist licensure examinations. UST's sharlene lao claimed the top spot, 2 points clear of 2nd placer jeane constantino from UP Manila. my alma mater was disappointed to say the least but as a consolation prize, it was the only school to have a 100% passing rate.

a month ago, after the results have been released and after taking our oaths, my aunt told me that she saw a banner at our lady of fatima university congratulating its students for having a 100% passing rate. i was surprised and just assumed that it was an old banner as fatima had a 100 passing rate a year ago, with 4 out of 4 students passing the board exam.

i was on my way home last week stuck in traffic when a yellow banner caught my eye. i saw the lines "July 2006 Pharmacist Licensure Exams," "100% Passing Rate," and "Our Lady of Fatima" all in one streamer and i thought this isn't right. i tried to give them the benefit of a doubt thinking maybe they got the info wrong or something but i think by now, 2 months after the results have been released, they should've corrected themselves already. the proud banner still hangs to this day.

i have nothing against OLFU, i just want the truth to be heard. if this is OLFU's way to get more students of pharmacy to enroll in their system, then i'm certainly against it. healthy competition is always good but when things get dirty, as with the review center wars that lead to the leakage, it's a different story. besides, 11 out of 14 fatima students passed the boards for an average of 79%, where's the shame in that?