July 21, 12:15

Education Minister addressed parliament regarding national exams

This morning, the Portuguese language exam is being held for 12th-grade graduates, which is the first after high school students reviewed the results of the first phase of exams. The second phase of the national exams will conclude on Friday with an English language exam at 14:00.

Issues with grading and student dissatisfaction

However, glitches in the digital grading process, delays in grade publication, and errors found during assessment have undermined trust among students. Demonstrations continued on Monday.

One of more than 30 protesters gathered in front of the Ministry of Education stated: 'The grades that were published are very likely incorrect.'

Exam administration process

The schedules for the national exams only began to be posted on Friday evening, but they initially did not contain all the grades due to issues identified by the National Examination Jury (JNE). The missing grades arrived at schools over the weekend, but on Monday, thousands of students still saw corrected initial scores for physics, chemistry, and geography due to errors in test item grading.

The government has maintained the deadlines for the national higher education entrance competition, which ends on August 6, as well as the deadlines for the second phase of exams. Nevertheless, students who feel they have been affected can take the exams during a special period in September and then apply to universities in the second phase.

Today also marks the start of the second phase of final assessments for the 9th grade: Portuguese language at 09:30, and Mathematics is scheduled for Thursday at 09:30.

Education Minister's position

The Minister of Education cited students who reported discrepancies in the digitization of the first phase test and whose issues were not corrected before the registration deadline for the second phase, which ended on Monday. The only exception is Geography A, whose registration deadline was extended until the end of today due to an error in the grading of two items, which required correcting the grades sent to schools only in the middle of Monday.

rtp.ptJuly 20, 19:21

PS asks Education Minister to consider free re-evaluation of exams

The Socialist Party (PS) expressed its desire for the Minister of Education to evaluate the possibility of making national exam re-evaluations free of charge.

National Exam Issues

There were mentions of evaluation errors in Geography exams, which requires the publication of new guidelines. Furthermore, schools have been facing an intense morning due to the need to deal with guidelines, forms, and re-evaluation processes. Grades for the 9th grade have already been released.

PS Stance

The PS has insisted on the free review of national exams. On the other hand, a group called Exames.Chega pointed to an 'imprudence' on the part of the Minister of Education.