On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation (MECI) acknowledged issues during the ninth-grade mathematics exams in 15 schools, brought to light by parents and the schools themselves.
In response to the complaints, the National Exam Jury decided to offer parents the choice to either validate the exam without knowing the grade or annul the first-phase exam and take it again in the second phase as if it were the first, explained the Education Ministry.
The MECI noted in a response today that the “National Exam Jury (JNE) conducted a survey of the complaints presented by parents and subsequently requested an evaluation from the schools to analyze the situations” concerning the “compensatory time in the Mathematics exam,” as specified by law.
Overall, 114 students in 15 schools were given the option to validate their completed exam without knowing the grade or to annul the first-phase exam and retake it in the second phase, with the possibility of a special session in August, at a date yet to be determined.
“Except for the parents of three students, all parents chose to validate the final exam taken in the first phase,” the ministry stated.
“The JNE emphasizes that the response was timely, before the posting of the grades,” said the Ministry, adding that this “procedure is not new and has been applied in previous school years.”
Students whose first-phase exam was annulled, by their parents’ choice, will take the final exams as internal candidates in the second phase.
If they do not complete the third cycle of basic education after the second phase, they can take the final exams as independent candidates in the special session.
The second phase of the final mathematics exams, scheduled for July 22, “will be taken by all students who did not pass the ninth grade after the first phase exams and the three students whose exam was annulled by parental choice.”
“All students who took final exams can request re-evaluation of the exams,” reminded the Ministry, led by Fernando Alexandre.
The Education Ministry did not disclose which schools faced these issues or the specific problems that warranted this option.
