The Liberal Initiative proposes the return of assessment tests in the fourth and sixth academic years

On Tuesday, the Liberal Initiative proposed reintroducing assessment tests in fourth and sixth grade, corresponding to the end of each school cycle, given that the current model “does not allow for specific assessment of learning.”

In the bill, which was introduced into parliament on Tuesday, the Liberal Initiative (IL) emphasizes that education is structured based on school cycles, which determine the organization of programs, as well as curricula and objectives, “so assessment must meet the same criteria.” .

“IL believes that assessment tests in the 4th and 6th years should be conducted in accordance with the final test of basic education in the 9th year, that is, they should be conducted at the end of each cycle of study. studying,” the message says.

For the party, the current model introduced by the PS government, which calls for assessment tests at the end of Years 2, 5 and 8, “does not allow for specific assessment of learning at the end.” each cycle”, as well as “analysis of the implementation and management of the school curriculum”.

“In addition, over the years, the level of comparability in assessing and determining the performance profile of each student, as well as in identifying deficiencies in each academic cycle, has been lost,” the party said.

IL also argues that “the existence of end-of-cycle formative assessment also allows schools to exercise greater pedagogical autonomy throughout each cycle, meaning that it has the added benefit of acting as a checker and balancer in the face of greater autonomy.”

Therefore, the party proposes to amend Decree-Law No. 55/2018 to provide that assessment tests “are carried out at the end of the 4th and 6th years of study and the resulting classifications can be used to consider the final classification depending on the choice of school or group of schools.”

Along with this diploma, IL also submitted a draft resolution calling on the Directorate General of Health (DGS) to “make vaccine decision-making processes more transparent.”

In this initiative, the party states that the SRS is “the body responsible for approving and conducting the decision-making process in accordance with strict technical and clinical criteria”, but emphasizes that “these processes are not always publicly known, which leaves doubts about the criteria and the rationale for the process decision making”.

“It is therefore important to ensure that decision-making is properly justified and communicated,” the party said, adding that “in an era when anti-vaccination movements are gaining momentum, embodied in conspiracy theories and in the absence of better empirical evidence, the greater the availability of all scientific information that supports the decision-making process is of particular importance.”

IL therefore recommends that the government “consider future changes to the National Vaccination Programme, namely the introduction of new vaccines intended for the adult population” and “take steps to ensure greater transparency and efficiency in the decision-making processes of the State Revenue Service.”