The Ministry of Education and Culture (MECI) has announced that technicians will be available to assist and address potential issues during exams scheduled from June 20 to 25. These technicians may be contracted by the 27 school groups or independent schools that previously indicated the need for such support.
For the execution of these exams and the Monitoring of Learning Tests (ModA), also conducted digitally for 4th and 6th-grade students from May 19 to June 6, the ministry has allocated a total of 15.4 million euros to 809 school groups and independent schools.
Of this amount, 15.3 million euros were designated for the acquisition or repair of computers, and 122,380 euros for other IT equipment, including extensions and headsets. However, schools have only spent “8.32 million on purchasing computers,” the ministry noted.
According to reports from school directors, “there are still 96,550 computers available for distribution among teachers and students” for these tests, 65,866 of which have already been used and returned for redistribution.
The results of the ModA tests, which replace the previous assessment exams, do not affect the students’ internal grades, approvals in subjects, or year progression. However, MECI states they will “monitor the annual evolution of results in Basic Education” and potentially contribute to “developing more tailored pedagogical approaches to meet each student’s individual needs, as well as providing information at national, regional, municipal, and school levels.”
The general secretary of the National Federation of Teachers expressed criticism of the ModA tests, stating they are “made at the expense of teachers’ workload” and described them as tests “meaningless in terms of system assessment.”
Mário Nogueira made these comments on June 9 during a press conference, where the FENPROF announced a strike against the new exams.
“There is a pre-notice for the ModA tests and all related duties: from administration, supervision, to corrections. Everything related to these exams,” he said, acknowledging that students may miss classes on exam days.
