The Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation has launched an internal investigation into procedural and technical failures that caused the “delay in posting the results of the 9th-grade Final Exams” in Portuguese and Mathematics.
“Responsibilities will be assessed among those involved in the services of the National Exam Jury (JNE) and the Institute for Educational Assessment (IAVE),” a statement sent to Notícias ao Minuto reads.
The failures, which resulted in a one-day delay in posting the 9th-grade scores, affected “a residual number of exams,” but the ministry decided not to release the student results in phases to ensure equity in information access.
According to IAVE, one technical failure stemmed from the late detection of the non-submission of digitized Mathematics exam sheets, preventing their timely grading, as stated in a communiqué.
The ministry, headed by Fernando Alexandre, further states that “to minimize the resulting constraints and expedite the registration process for the second phase of exams, all students who did not pass after the first phase of exams will be automatically enrolled in the second phase of the Basic Education exams.”
What happened?
The results of the Basic Education exams were expected to be announced on Tuesday, amid questions about the registration deadline for the second phase—a matter now addressed by the ministry, as explained above.
Yesterday, schools were awaiting the arrival of final exam results throughout the day, but it wasn’t until Wednesday that students began to learn their results.
There were “technical difficulties” reported in the grading of exams.
“According to IAVE, the delay was due to technical failures identified on July 14. Among other potential failures to be investigated, one was the non-submission of digitized Mathematics exam sheets to the IAVE platform, preventing timely grading and the dispatch of results to schools within the scheduled timeframe,” the communiqué details, noting that “these failures were not widespread, affecting only a residual number of exams: approximately 600 out of more than 97,000, representing about 0.6% of the total.”
Ministry sought “equality,” but Alentejo posted early
To “ensure equality in information access,” instructions were given for simultaneous disclosures nationwide.
“The Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation issued clear written instructions to the JNE to ensure that results were sent to schools for posting simultaneously across the country, only when all students’ exams were properly graded,” MECI explained, noting that “however, the three Exam Groups in Alentejo (Beja, Évora, and Portalegre) did not comply with these instructions, sending classifications to local schools prematurely, resulting in some posting the results. Once the situation was identified and the JNE alerted schools about MECI’s directions, some schools retracted the posted results without ministry instructions.”
And the second phase?
Regarding the second phase, despite this issue, the dates remain unchanged, with the Portuguese exam scheduled for Friday, July 18, and the Mathematics exam on Tuesday, July 22. “The enrollment deadlines for Secondary Education also remain unchanged,” they clarify.
The Basic Education Final Exams were held digitally for the first time this school year nationwide, representing a significant stride towards education digitalization in Portugal. This effort involved directors, teachers, and MECI services that ensured classroom conditions,” the ministry adds.
On June 25, 97,352 Portuguese exams were conducted, representing 99% of expected tests. On June 20, 97,450 Mathematics exams were performed, also accounting for 99% of the total expected.
[Updated at 18:27]
