The Schools Council recommended the suspension of the basic education assessment tests and the 9th grade exams, similar to the last two academic years, maintaining the secondary final exams as entrance exams.
In a recommendation published on Saturday, the advisory body of the Ministry of Education argues that, for the third consecutive year, the assessment tests for the 2nd, 5th and 8th years, nor the final exams for the 9th year, should not be carried out.
As for the 11th and 12th grade national exams, the School Council (EC) understands that they should again only serve as entrance exams or for grade improvement, which means that students are exempt from taking exams in subjects they do not want to use. in applying for higher education.
«The external assessment of learning, in the midst of the intended recovery period, does not defend the students, promoting situations of injustice, taking into account that the students from the most disadvantaged economic backgrounds were, despite the efforts of the tutelage, the schools and communities, the most affected», they justify.
In the EC's view, the recovery of expected and desirable learning has not yet been possible in the 2021/2022 school year, due to the constraints that the covid-19 pandemic has imposed again and, therefore, there are still no "minimum conditions for guarantee equal opportunities and equity in the educational process».
«The contingency measures adopted in the current school year, with a special focus at the beginning of 2022, introduced significant differences in the development of the different students' learning, not only between schools, but within the same school and even the same class or pedagogical team », they maintain.
Specifically, the EC mentions that this year was different from the previous ones, but not better, because instead of periods when everyone was in distance learning, there were many classes with several students, at different times, without attending classes in person because they were in isolation.
“The situation is exacerbated by the existence of a significant number of students without a teacher in some subjects, including those subject to examination or final test”, they add, referring to the problem of lack of teachers in schools.
Therefore, that advisory body argues, more than complying with the external evaluation, it is important to fully comply with the learning recovery plan and ensure the best conditions of equality and equity.
On Thursday, the National Commission for Access to Higher Education (CNAES) is also due to meet to discuss the possibility of retaking only the entrance exams to higher education that are required by the institutions.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, the president of CNAES acknowledged that this school year “schools have returned to an exceptional scenario”, with the 5th wave of covid-19 and thousands of isolated students, but the CNAES opinion will only be known after the meeting that brings together representatives of universities, polytechnics, private and cooperative systems.
The assessment tests for basic education are scheduled for between the 2nd of May and the 20th of June and the final cycle tests for the 9th year are scheduled for the 17th, 21st and 23rd of June, in the first phase, and for the 20th and 22nd of July in the second phase.
The national exams for secondary school students take place between 17 June and 6 July in the first phase and between 21 and 27 July in the second phase.
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