TACLOBAN CITY – The Leyte Normal University (LNU) obtained a 100 percent passing rate in the recent Social Worker Licensure Exam (SWLE).

All 67 LNU examinees hurdled the SWLE and eight of them are in the Top 10, Lilibeth Fallorina, academic chairman of the Arts and Humanities Department, said.

LNU was No. 1 in the exam, along with seven other schools from various parts of the country.

Fiona Yvannie Tonido Murillo was third with 87.80 percent, followed by Geralene Mahinay Terceño, 87.20 percent, sixth; Eduard Abrera Cañares, 87 percent, seventh;

Mary Guen Sablayan, Erika Morales Setosta, and Christelle Erika Canillas Toring, 86.60 percent, eighth; Pamela Jane Rojas Pido, 86.40 percent, and Nicu Bernard Egos Baylos, 86.20 percent, ninth and tenth, respectively.

Falloria said the LNU surpassed a record by having eight topnotchers.

"We knew from the very start that they would pass the board exams based on our previous performances but this is the first time that we had eight board placers," she said.

Fallorina said that there is no secret formula to their achievement. However, she said college applicants are evaluated rigidly prior to their enrolment in the program.

She added that students are urged to get at least a 2.2 grade for them to get a higher chance of passing the board exam.

Although it has been a challenge for them to maintain their performance since the last exam in 2019, Fallorina said their only goal is to provide quality education, and topping the board exam is just a bonus.

"What is important is we produce students with a heart to serve the underprivileged. Our students are aware of what is going on and they are active in their organization," she added.

With their commendable performance, the board placers will be given incentives aside from the free plane ticket and registration in their oath-taking in Manila.

In 2019, LNU’s Xhelxea Francesca Lerios was second in the SWLE. The Tacloban City-based public school was second among top-performing schools nationwide in the SWLE that year.